The integration of youth perspectives is increasingly seen as important for medical practice, particularly in resource-constrained settings. In South Africa, robust methodological frameworks for investigating how young professionals contribute to advancing obstetrics and gynaecology are underdeveloped in the literature. This article presents a methodological framework for studying the role of youth in advancing medical practice in South Africa. Its objectives are to detail the design, data collection, and analytical strategies for capturing the multifaceted contributions of young healthcare professionals, trainees, and innovators. The proposed methodology is a mixed-methods, multi-phase design. It comprises a systematic scoping review, qualitative semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with youth in medical training and early career practice, and a quantitative cross-sectional survey. The survey aims to measure the prevalence of youth-led initiatives and attitudes within the professional community. Detailed ethical considerations for engaging young participants are included. As a methodology article, it presents no empirical results. Instead, it outlines the proposed framework's structure and anticipated outputs. This includes the identification of core thematic areas for investigation, such as 'digital health innovation' and 'advocacy for patient-centred care', which are hypothesised to be prominent domains of youth contribution. The outlined methodology provides a structured and ethically sound approach to systematically investigate a significant but poorly documented phenomenon. It is designed to generate evidence that can inform policy and educational strategies to harness youth potential in medicine. Researchers should adopt this flexible framework, adapting the specific tools to their local context. Future studies should prioritise participatory methods that position youth as co-investigators. Funding bodies should support longitudinal applications of this methodology to track contributions over time. research methodology, youth, medical practice, obstetrics, gynaecology, South Africa, mixed methods This article provides a novel methodological framework for a under-researched area. It offers a practical guide for researchers aiming to systematically investigate the contributions of youth to medical practice in African contexts.
Lerato Mokoena (Sat,) studied this question.