Dr Belinda van der Merwe
NRF Rating: C2
Visiting Research Fellow (2024–2029)
Qualifications: Ph.D. (Health Professions Education, UFS) | M.Tech. (Radiography: Diagnostic, CUT) | Tertiary Education Diploma (Radiography, UNISA) | B.Radiography & Hons. (Diagnostic, UFS)
Professional Background
Dr. Belinda Van der Merwe is a dedicated researcher and educator specializing in health professions education and diagnostic radiography. Her work is deeply rooted in evaluating and enhancing occupational radiation safety culture within clinical environments. Through comprehensive audit methodologies, she has successfully assessed compliance and safety practices at multiple interventional sites, focusing on optimal dosimeter usage, protective device deployment, and the mitigation of radiation exposure to critical areas such as the eyes, thyroid, hands, and feet of theatre teams.
Her research effectively identifies opportunities to enhance safety culture by reinforcing the foundational radiation protection principles of distance, time, shielding, and dose monitoring. Building on these insights, her current research focus centers on implementing, optimizing, and sustaining a robust radiation protection culture. This is achieved by actively engaging all theatre staff in continuous, technology-enabled review processes.
Innovation & Applied Research
- Mobile Health Integration: Pioneering the use of the savvyRAD mobile application to facilitate regular, engaging reviews of radiation protection practices among healthcare staff.
- Audit Tool Development: Designed and validated specialized audit checklists to systematically determine and address areas for improvement in interventional radiography sites.
- Pedagogical Innovation: Actively explores and implements novel teaching strategies, including online simulation tools and stop-motion animation, to enhance radiation protection education for radiography students.
Areas of Expertise
- • Radiation Protection & Safety
- • Interventional Procedure Safety
- • Standardised Training & Assessment
- • Health Professions Education
- • Mobile Health (mHealth) Applications in Safety
Selected Publications
Top Journal Articles
- • Sebelego, I., Acho, S., Van der Merwe, B. and Rae, I.D. 2023. Factors influencing size-specific dose estimates of selected computed tomography protocols at two clinical practices in South Africa. Radiation Protection Dosimetry, ncad059.
https://doi.org/10.1093/rpd/ncad059 → - • Sebelego, I., Acho, S., Van der Merwe, B. and Rae, I.D. 2023. Size based dependence of patient dose metrics, and image quality metrics for clinical indicator-based imaging protocols in abdominal CT procedures. Radiography.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radi.2023.07.011 → - • Horn-Lodewyk, J., Van der Merwe, B., Kali, G.M. and Munro, L. 2022. Evaluating the knowledge and training of forensic pathologists and registrars performing forensic radiography at a forensic pathology mortuary in the Free State province, South Africa. Health SA Gesondheid, 27(0), a2014.
https://doi.org/10.4102/hsag.v27i0.2014 → - • Toua, L., Van der Merwe, B. and Van der Linde, B. 2022. Chest radiography: optimising the radiation dose at industrial mines in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. Occupational Health Southern Africa, 28(1), 5-10.
- • Van der Merwe, B. 2021. Establishing ionising radiation safety culture during interventional cardiovascular procedures. Cardiovascular Journal of Africa, 32, 1-5.
https://doi.org/10.5830/CVJA-2021-030 →
Selected Book Chapters
- • Van der Merwe, B. 2022. Reflections on the Covid-19 Pandemic: Utilising video for a physics module during Covid-19 to adhere to social distancing. In: Reflections on the COVID-19 pandemic. Publisher: ISRRT. ISBN: 9781912337583.
- • Horn-Lodewyk, H., Van der Merwe, B. and Van der Linde, B. 2019. Using roleplay to understand ethics as part of a development approach to an appropriate research methodology. In: Remenyi, D. (ed.), Innovation in the Teaching of Research Methodology Excellence Awards: An Anthology of Case Histories 2019 (pp. 77–88). Reading, UK: Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited.
Top Conference Presentations
- • Van der Merwe, B. (2023). Radiation Safety Culture Mobile Application. Poster presented at the 8th World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, Washington DC, USA, 28 August 2023.
- • Van der Merwe, B. (2023). Application of the basic optimization tools of occupational radiological protection during interventional procedures. SA Heart Congress, Sandton, South Africa, 26-29 September 2023.
- • Van der Merwe, B. (2023). Establishing ionising radiation safety culture during interventional cardiovascular procedures. SORSA Congress, Cape Town, South Africa, 18-19 August 2023.
- • Van der Merwe, B. (2020). Radiation protection of health care workers - the call for action. Plenary Speaker, 9th World Congress on Nursing and Healthcare, Philadelphia, USA, 20-22 February 2020.
- • Horn-Lodewyk, Du Plessis & Van der Merwe, B. (2022). Radiography students' perceptions of the online simulation teaching tools Ziltron and Shaderware. 6th Annual International Conference on Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in Higher Education, CUT Bloemfontein, 6-7 October 2022.
