Head of Division
Professor Bridget Hodkinson
Professor and Head, Rheumatology — UCT & Groote Schuur Hospital
Treating patients with chronic illnesses, such as arthritis, in an outpatient setting attracted me from an early stage in my career. As a medical registrar at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Soweto, I discovered that rheumatologists have the opportunity to establish long-term relationships with their patients, and can change patients’ lives not only by using excellent clinical skills, applying diagnostic reasoning, and prescribing therapies based on current evidence, but also by interacting with a multidisciplinary team to motivate and support patients as they lead their daily lives.
These are exciting times for rheumatologists and their patients, thanks to a growing toolbox of instruments to diagnose and monitor disease, as well as excellent new therapies. According to a recent survey, rheumatologists are some of the happiest and most satisfied subspecialists. I believe that my role is to share and expand that happiness to patients and healthcare workers.
As Head of Rheumatology at Groote Schuur Hospital and University of Cape Town, I am at your service. Clinicians in resource-constrained settings such as ours need to explore new ways to deliver excellent clinical services to their patients. Sometimes this requires challenging current dogma. I teach, train and inspire health care workers to offer patient-centred, up-to-date diagnosis and care.
I live in Muizenberg with my partner Dave and 2 children. I am an avid hiker and have travelled to the Himalayas four times with Dave and the kids. We have also explored wild parts of the uKhahlamba Natal Drakensberg, Mpumalanga and the Western Cape.
Academic profile
Qualifications
- 2012 — Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of the Witwatersrand
- 1995 — Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBCh), University of the Witwatersrand
Professional memberships
- Fellow of the College of Physicians of South Africa
- Certificate in Rheumatology — College of Physicians of South Africa
Selected awards, fellowships and grants
- Invited speaker, American College of Rheumatology Convergence: Global Rheumatology Summit, October 2025
- Invited speaker, Cutting Edge Rheumatology, Lund University, Sweden, 2024
- National Research Foundation grants, 2016–2019; NRF rating C3, 2016
- Thuthuka NRF Grant — the ALUGEN study of South African SLE patients
- International League Against Rheumatism (ILAR) grant, 2014 — the RAIN nurse-led rheumatoid arthritis project
- TH Bothwell Research Prize, 2013 — best PhD thesis, Department of Medicine
- Carnegie Large Research Grant, 2011 — the ORBIT study
- Pfizer ARTICULUM Fellowship, 2010 — Saint-Antoine Hospital, Paris
- Susan Scott Trophy, young investigator’s award, SARAA Biennial Congress 2008
Publications
- Author of more than 55 peer-reviewed publications on rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatology care in Africa.
- Contributing author, South African Rheumatism and Arthritis Association 2024 treatment guidelines.
- Chapters in the MIMS Handbook of General Medicine on inflammatory arthritis, fibromyalgia and gout.