Professor Julia Blitz

Prof Julia Blitz graduated as a medical doctor at Wits University in 1982 and she decided to become a family physician. But, along the way, her career gradually started going in a new direction in the latter part of her professional life when she moved more into teaching.

She combined her interest in family medicine and teaching in April 1997 by becoming a senior family physician and, at the same time, senior lecturer in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Pretoria.

In June 2001, she became Professor and Head of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Pretoria and Pretoria Academic Hospital. In 2009, in search of new challenges, she went to Malaysia for two years to head the Department of Family Medicine at Penang Medical College.

When she returned to South Africa, Blitz joined Stellenbosch University in 2011 as Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, and also assisted with developing educational capacity in the FMHS through the Centre for Health Professions Education (CHPE) and the Stellenbosch University Collaborative Capacity Enhancement through Engagement with Districts (SUCCEED) Project.

In May 2016, she was appointed as Vice-Dean at Stellenbosch University. Somehow, she still found time to complete a PhD in Health Professions Education in 2018.

"I like seeing other people grow, I like seeing other people grasp new things. I like supporting other people in extending themselves in new endeavours. Teaching Medical Education at iheed offers you that opportunity"