Frere Hospital is boosting its local academic output by training specialist doctors from around the world.
The Dispatch caught up with six doctors from the UK, Tanzania and Belgium who are being trained in different departments within Frere and who also provide their services to Cecilia Makiwane Hospital.
The two doctors from the UK – Aidan Joyce and Joanna Hunter – are both in internal medicine working on developing systems to make patient management simpler for clinicians in the hospital.
Gaetan Catala is an oncology registrar from Belgium and his compatriot Laurence Mentrop is a trainee specialising in gynaecology and obstetrics.
The two doctors from Tanzania – Shazmeen Ramzan and Ibrahim Makumba – are both training under Professor David Morrell, who heads up the anaesthetics department at Frere.
Professor Andy Parrish, who heads the UK programme, said the programme started as a means to bridge leadership gaps in public institutions and support hospital managers in smaller hospitals.
“We’ve got a number of projects running, all to do with what we call systems strengthening, which is quality assurance type stuff.”
The aim is to make the tools developed translatable and usable in other facilities.
The fellowship is sponsored by the UK-based National Health Service and Tropical Health Education Trust.
Hospital CEO Dr Rolene Wagner said Joyce and Hunter were the third group since the programme began.
Last week was only the second week in South Africa for the UK fellows. Hunter said they would be in the province until January.
The Belgians arrived at Frere last November and head home at the start of October. They managed to complete all necessary documentation with the assistance of an organisation called African Health Placement.
Speaking of his experience in oncology, Catal said: “I’m really enjoying it. It’s very different from what I would see in Belgium. Unfortunately, usually the diseases here are more advanced, and it’s more difficult to treat them.”
Mentrop also said the work was different at Frere.
“I have to do all the caesarian sections independently, whereas in Belgium I’m always with a consultant whom I’m assisting or who assists me. Here I’m always alone unless I need some help – then we can call on our consultants,” she said.
The Tanzanian duo will train under Morrell for the next four years. They have only been in the city for two months.
Said Ramzan: “We’re seeing things that we never expected to see. We also found out that here pain is a very big issue.”
She said this was due to a heavy workload on nurses and doctors as no-one had time to manage pain after a procedure.
Makumba said: “Here the patient is already asleep but they make sure they give other things so the patient won’t be in pain – even afterwards.”
Morrell said: “It’s really a pleasure teaching people from . They revel in the facilities. They are all very intelligent people and take to the technology on offer very quickly. Clinically, they’re very dedicated and compassionate with the patients. It’s always a pleasure to work with them.” — vuyiswav@dispatch.co.za
Fellowship at Frere goes global
The Dispatch caught up with six doctors from the UK, Tanzania and Belgium who are being trained in different departments within Frere and who also provide their services to Cecilia Makiwane Hospital.
The two doctors from the UK – Aidan Joyce and Joanna Hunter – are both in internal medicine working on developing systems to make patient management simpler for clinicians in the hospital.
Gaetan Catala is an oncology registrar from Belgium and his compatriot Laurence Mentrop is a trainee specialising in gynaecology and obstetrics.
The two doctors from Tanzania – Shazmeen Ramzan and Ibrahim Makumba – are both training under Professor David Morrell, who heads up the anaesthetics department at Frere.
Professor Andy Parrish, who heads the UK programme, said the programme started as a means to bridge leadership gaps in public institutions and support hospital managers in smaller hospitals.
“We’ve got a number of projects running, all to do with what we call systems strengthening, which is quality assurance type stuff.”
The aim is to make the tools developed translatable and usable in other facilities.
The fellowship is sponsored by the UK-based National Health Service and Tropical Health Education Trust.
Hospital CEO Dr Rolene Wagner said Joyce and Hunter were the third group since the programme began.
Last week was only the second week in South Africa for the UK fellows. Hunter said they would be in the province until January.
The Belgians arrived at Frere last November and head home at the start of October. They managed to complete all necessary documentation with the assistance of an organisation called African Health Placement.
Speaking of his experience in oncology, Catal said: “I’m really enjoying it. It’s very different from what I would see in Belgium. Unfortunately, usually the diseases here are more advanced, and it’s more difficult to treat them.”
Mentrop also said the work was different at Frere.
“I have to do all the caesarian sections independently, whereas in Belgium I’m always with a consultant whom I’m assisting or who assists me. Here I’m always alone unless I need some help – then we can call on our consultants,” she said.
The Tanzanian duo will train under Morrell for the next four years. They have only been in the city for two months.
Said Ramzan: “We’re seeing things that we never expected to see. We also found out that here pain is a very big issue.”
She said this was due to a heavy workload on nurses and doctors as no-one had time to manage pain after a procedure.
Makumba said: “Here the patient is already asleep but they make sure they give other things so the patient won’t be in pain – even afterwards.”
Morrell said: “It’s really a pleasure teaching people from . They revel in the facilities. They are all very intelligent people and take to the technology on offer very quickly. Clinically, they’re very dedicated and compassionate with the patients. It’s always a pleasure to work with them.” — vuyiswav@dispatch.co.za
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