Durban family physician honoured with prestigious award
Christiaan Barnard Memorial Award goes to Medicross doctor
Dr Louis Minders, a family physician practising at Medicross Bluff in Durban, was last week awarded the Christiaan Barnard Memorial Award for his outstanding contribution to family medicine and his service to his patients at Medicross.
Founded in 2011, the Christiaan Barnard Memorial Award, an initiative of Netcare in association with the Christiaan Barnard Foundation, pays tribute to doctors who practice at healthcare facilities within the Netcare group and who have demonstrated leadership in their specific field whilst contributing to the advancement of the medical profession. To date, the Christiaan Barnard Memorial Award has only been bestowed on 17 specialists and Dr Minders is the first family physician to be honoured with this accolade.
At a dinner to pay tribute to Dr Minders, Dr Richard Friedland, chief executive officer of Netcare, said that Dr Minders has had an illustrious 32-year career during which he touched the lives of literally thousands of patients and colleagues. “Dr Minders combines an incredible dynamism with integrity, humility and a compassionate bedside manner. He is highly respected within the medical profession and by his patients, and is a worthy recipient of this prestigious award,” says Dr Friedland.
Dr Minders has dedicated his entire medical career to family general practice, which he says has been most rewarding. Dr Minders joined Medicross Bluff in 1994 as the managing practitioner and combined his incredibly successful medical practice with an equally influential leadership role in the clinical representative structure within Medicross, representing more than 300 doctors nationally in the Medicross Practitioners’ Association. He served the MPA with distinction in the roles of deputy chairperson and later chairperson between 1998 and 2013.
Dr Minders has received several awards in recognition of his clinical and professional expertise, amongst others the Claude Leon Harris Medal as the best candidate in the MFamMed and MFGP; the CDE Best Glycaemic Control Award in 2009 for achieving the best controlled glycated haemoglobin (HBA1C) levels and the Best CDE Clinic in 2011 for good clinical practice, out of more than 260 CDE clinics in South Africa.
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Issued by: Martina Nicholson Associates (MNA) on behalf of Netcare and Medicross
Contact: Martina Nicholson, Graeme Swinney or Sarah Beswick
Telephone: (011) 469 3016
Email: [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]