Episode 7-Interview with Dr. Itumeleng Ntatamala

This episode we heard from Dr. Itumeleng Ntatamala, an Occupational Medicine Specialist and Senior Lecturer in the Occupational Medicine Division in the School of Public Health at University of Cape Town’s Faculty of Health Sciences.

We talked about: 

• Dr. Itumeleng’s background and his current roles 
• What drew him to medicine, public health and then occupational health 
• How his interests in clinical care influenced his interest to do public health work 
• Defining occupational health and occupation medicine and how they sit under public health 
• The aim of occupational health 
• What occupational health looks like and the different types of workers and professionals who work in it 
• Examples of the types of work dealt with in occupational health 
• How he splits his time between clinical work, public health work, research and teaching 
• The wide range of patients and medical issues that they see and the different work industries they work with in occupational medicine
• Where Dr. Itumeleng finds the most joy and fulfillment in his work 
• The need for more people to be interested and work in Occupational health, in South Africa and beyond 
• COVID and its impact on occupational health 
• Different types of trainings that people can undergo to gain skills in and pivot to start working in occupational health 
• Why there is not as many people going into the field and being aware that the field of occupational health exists as a career path in public health 
• Challenges in limited opportunities for training in South Africa and in the region 
• How he defines public health and what public health means to him 
• Advice for anyone looking to go into medicine and/or public health 
• Following  your passion and taking it one step at a time
• Advice for those that might be interested specifically in pivoting into occupational health 
• Skills that he has found the most useful 
• Attending short courses in what you are interested 
• Reading more about occupational health  eg :
  • International Labor Organization ILO https://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/index.htm 
  • Health & Safety Executive(HSE)  https://www.hse.gov.uk/ 
  • National Institute of Occupational Health SA (NIOH) https://www.nioh.ac.za/# 
  • and local National Occupational health bodies 
• Areas that connect to occupational health eg psychology or social work or physiotherapy 
• Can reach out about programs to him on Linked in or via email at for questions about the field and programs