Bachelor of Medical Science Honours in Biokinetics
Health Sciences and Social Services - Preventive Health
Purpose and Rationale
Purpose:
The qualification serves as a foundation and core knowledge base whereby the acquisition of professional abilities such as understanding, skills, values, and attitudes are ensured. The goal is to enable individuals to gain applied competence to work as a specialist health care professional, specifically a Biokineticist. Competent and qualified Biokineticists are equipped to work in various settings, including the public and private sector, both in urban and rural areas. They primarily use their expertise in exercise, physical activity, and health education to promote overall health and prevent dysfunction. They focus on restoring and maintaining an individual's compromised functional ability, especially related to orthopedic injury and chronic diseases. This qualification aims to provide a pool of well-qualified individuals recognized internationally, capable of delivering specialized biokinetic health care services within any community setting.
Professional Qualification: Health Professional - Biokineticist is distinct from other health care qualifications due to its focus on scientifically based prescriptive exercise in the four domains of practice.
Rationale:
Biokinetics has emerged as a specialized field with a growing demand for experts in this area. The program was established to meet this demand and produce professionals who can offer the theoretical and practical foundation for using physical activity in disease prevention and as a primary therapeutic approach during rehabilitation. Graduates are required to complete a one-year internship at a registered biokinetics practice before being eligible to register with the Health Professions Council of South Africa as a Biokineticist.
Outcomes
Assessment Criteria
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 1:
- Specific areas of knowledge will be assessed in tests and exams.
- Be able to critically evaluate scientific literature on specialist topics - assessed during tests and exams.
- Be able to communicate acquired specialist knowledge and insight both orally and in written form.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 2:
- Be able to write essays on the application of specialist topics in the medical field concerned.
- Specific areas of knowledge will be assessed in tests and exams.
- Be able to critically evaluate scientific literature on specialist topics - this will be assessed during journal club presentations and in exams and tests.
- Be able to communicate acquired specialist knowledge and insight both orally and in written form.
- Ability to access and utilize electronic information in the discipline concerned.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 3:
- Lab books will be assessed on an ongoing basis.
- Seminars will be presented.
- Mini-theses will be written and examined by internal and external examiners.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 4:
- Understanding and implementation of all the above will be assessed by supervisors and staff in different teaching settings, including lab meetings, journal clubs, and general discussions.
- Copyright, plagiarism, etc. will be monitored by teachers and supervisors.
- Self-evaluations and group evaluations will take place during the year and at the end of the course.
Integrated Assessment:
- An integrated assessment of the competence of the learner occurs on a continual basis through the course of the Honours program.
- Assessment methods will include formal examination, review of essays and/or oral presentations or other written assignments where appropriate, and a review of a mini-dissertation on the laboratory research module.
- Module examination of a three-hour examination.
- Submission of a mini-dissertation, e.g. covering the laboratory project, written as a scientific paper, a week before the final examination.
- An oral examination that will involve questions on the theoretical, practical, and clinical aspects of the Honours program conducted by three examiners, one of whom is external to the university.
- The overall pass mark is 50%.
- Integrated Assessment will take into account elements of scientific literacy, numeric and computer literacy relevant to the study area.
Qualification Details
- Type
- Honours Degree
- NQF Level
- 08
- Min. Credits
- 120
- SAQA Source
- More Information
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