Profile
position: Professor and Head
department: Division of Rural Health (Ukwanda), Department of Global Health
South Africa
Professor Ian Couper is Head of the Division of Rural Health (Ukwanda) and Professor of Rural Health at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. A trained family physician, he spent nine years practising in a remote rural hospital in northern KwaZuluNatal province, and then 16 years working in primary care and health service development in rural North West province. He held the first chair of rural health at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). He has chaired both the Rural Doctors Association of Southern Africa (RuDASA) and the Wonca Working Party on Rural Practice (WONCA Rural).
Articles contributed to by this person
Original Research 20 March 2025
Investigating clinical courage: an international survey of rural doctors
Original Research 4 February 2024
Shaping the future rural healthcare landscape: perspectives of young healthcare professionals
Original Research 18 November 2023
Exploring the ideas of young healthcare professionals from selected countries regarding rural proofing
Original Research 31 October 2023
Lessons from innovation in medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic: student perspectives on distributed training
Original Research 7 May 2023
Developing conceptually sound items for a clinical courage questionnaire
Original Research 25 September 2021
The impact of interpersonal relationships on rural doctors’ clinical courage
Editorial 2 July 2021
Researching ‘others’
Editorial 14 June 2020
Surgical care at rural district hospitals in low- and middle-income countries: an essential component of universal health coverage
Editorial 13 June 2020
Support nurses and midwives to strengthen healthcare systems
Review Article 6 March 2018
Transformation of medical education through Decentralised Training Platforms: a scoping review
Original Research 18 December 2017
What are they thinking? Facilitating clinical reasoning through longitudinal patient exposure in rural practice
Rural Health History 28 July 2015
Rural health activism over two decades: the Wonca Working Party on Rural Practice 1992-2012
Editorial 3 December 2014
A new ally for the promotion of better rural health in Latin America
Project Report 16 August 2014
Addressing the shortage of health professionals in South Africa through the development of a new cadre of health worker: the creation of Clinical Associates
Conference Report 8 July 2013
Transforming rural health systems through clinical academic leadership: lessons from South Africa
Original Research 17 March 2011
Rural longitudinal integrated clerkships: lessons from two programs on different continents
Review Article 12 June 2009
A critical review of interventions to redress the inequitable distribution of healthcare professionals to rural and remote areas
Editorial 14 August 2008
The future, our rural populations and climate change - a special issue of Rural and Remote Health
Original Research 30 October 2006
Suicide and attempted suicide: the Rehoboth experience
Editorial 11 September 2006
Health and information in Africa: the role of the journal Rural and Remote Health
Original Research 6 September 2006
What interventions do South African qualified doctors think will retain them in rural hospitals of the Limpopo province of South Africa?
Project Report 24 October 2005
The Neonatal Resuscitation Training Project in Rural South Africa
Original Research 6 October 2005
Management of district hospitals - exploring success
Conference Report 29 September 2005
The most rural conference?
Conference Report 21 May 2004
Reframing the HIV/AIDS debate in developing countries I: setting the scene
Personal View 15 April 2004
Seeking quality: some experiences in South Africa
Personal View 24 July 2003
Rural health focus: organising CPD for rural hospitals
Personal View 17 July 2003
Rural hospital focus: defining rural
Personal View 4 July 2003
Rural hospital focus: students
Personal View 17 June 2003
Rural hospital focus: accommodation
Personal View 10 June 2003
Recruiting foreign doctors to South Africa: difficulties and dilemmas
Personal View 20 May 2003
Rural hospital focus: No transport, no primary health care
Personal View 7 May 2003
Rural hospital focus: staffing
Editorial 22 April 2002
The ethics of international recruitment
Editorial 6 March 2002
Working abroad
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AI scribes in rural and remote primary care
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Exploring paramedic confidence in out-of-hospital births and obstetric emergencies
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Discrepancies in clinical coding between rural and urban hospitals after interhospital transfer
article
2025 National Nursing Forum, 23–25 July 2025, Canberra, Australia
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16th National Allied Health Conference: Empowering lives, shaping healthcare, 11–14 August 2025, Adelaide, Australia
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2025 Gayaa Dhuwi Conference, 28–29 August 2025, Garramilla (Darwin), Australia
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National Tribal Health Conference, 7–12 September 2025, Chandler, AZ, USA
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2025 National First Nations Mental Health & Suicide Prevention Conference, 15–17 September 2025, Gold Coast, Australia
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Rural Health Conference 2025 (PACASA, RuDASA, RuNurSA, RuReSA), 16–18 September 2025, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
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WONCA World Conference 2025: New Vision for Primary Health Care and Sustainable Development, 17–21 September 2025, Lisbon, Portugal
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NRHA 23rd Rural Health Clinic Conference, 23–24 September 2025, Kansas, MO, USA
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10th Rural & Remote Health Scientific Symposium, 8 & 9 October 2025, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
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Indigenous Wellbeing Conference 2025, 20–21 October 2025, Meanjin (Brisbane), Australia
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2025 Health Leadership Congress, 22–24 October 2025, Darwin, Australia
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Rural Medicine Australia Conference (RMA25), 22–25 October 2025, Boorloo (Perth), Australia
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Rural Mental Health Conference 2025 (RMHC25), 5–7 November 2025, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
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SARGA 2026, Rural Generalist Anaesthetist Conference, 12–14 February 2026, Barossa Valley, South Australia
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21st WONCA World Rural Health Conference, 10–13 April 2026, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand
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33rd Annual Rural and Remote Medicine Conference, 16–18 April 2026, Quebec City, Canada
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4th EURACT Medical Education Conference, 23–25 April 2026, Iasi, Romania
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11th Health Promotion Conference, 10–12 June 2026, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Harstad, Norway
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9th WONCA Africa Region Conference 2026, 10 & 11 September 2026, Gaborone, Botswana
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18th National Rural Health Conference, 14–17 September 2026, Adelaide, SA, Australia
World Indigenous Suicide Prevention Conference 2026, 17–19 September 2026, Kirikiriroa (Hamilton), New Zealand
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