Rural Allowance: No
Doctors Quarters:
- Never been.
- Basically a hostel, shared kitchen and bathroom.
- Do not stay there myself, but I have a few colleagues that stay there. They say the place isn’t too bad but you will have to paint the room and put some cash in to make it a home.
- Basically you stay at res – not a bad option if finances are tight since rent near the hospital is usually in excess of R7k per month.
- Really small, really cramped. Shared kitchens per floor. No showers only bathtubs. But hey it was 900 bucks per month in Cape Town.
Academics:
- Excellent, if eager, you can easily be part of study or even do one yourself.
- Multiple consultant ward rounds, teaching and students. Ample registrars and MOs to ask
- Academics is what you make of it. Covid has had an impact on it. Highly recommended if research is your thing. Many departments are willing to take you under their wing.
- One would think that a tertiary setting would be filled with academics, but sadly not. The turnover and demands of GSH didn’t really allow for great teaching. Internal medicine was probably the only department with great teaching.
- Covid changed things a little (less department morning meeting) where often times teaching / discussions happen.
- Exposure to UCT Profs on daily ward rounds. Tutorials given to interns in certain blocks e.g. Fam Med, Anaesthetics. Big emphasis on learning the “right”/ gold standard way to do things instead of just making a plan with limited resources.
- Great academics, the gold standard in terms of Profs and consulatants. With many registrars it’s your responsibility to show initiative to want to be taught.
- If you want to learn you will get Excellent teaching.
- Very academic orientated, especially anaesthetics. Most academics are directed towards registrars, but exposure is wonderful.
Supervision:
- Best supervision ever. You have the opportunity to learn from senior consultants and professors. Learn something properly.
- During the days well supervised. Night calls in medicine and surgery cold call alone and no reg on site.
- Very block dependent but always supervision present. Sometimes too much. You feel like a student but that gets paid.
- Always supervised, so much so that you’re barely allowed to do (major/ big) procedures. As there is always a MO or reg who gets preference.
- Always have a registrar with you. One firm/team will have at least one junior & senior reg and one senior consultant. Plenty of senior support. I found 99% of seniors wonderful and so so helpful!
- Big safety net which allows you to work independently as much as you want, but always with support and advice available.
- Consultants and registrars in every department on the floor, always accessible and always helpful, never felt like I was expected to do something above my pay grade.
- Almost too supervised.
- There is ALWAYS a senior on call with you.
Clinical Exposure:
- Double-edged sword. You see the weird stuff, but you miss out on the basics. The elective Caesar cases even make the registrars sweat.
- It’s what you make of it. Lots of clinical procedures if you are keen and ask. Otherwise it will be done by the reg. So ask and they will teach you.
- Really depends on what you want out of it.
- Clinic exposure is only in fam med (I was at Vredenburg / Vanguard). We rarely attend clinics at GSH.
- Exposure to rare diseases and very sick patients in EC. Can be daunting because Internal Med interns sometimes run a resus by themselves on very complex patients for a long time before getting help. Six months of Fam Med in clinics and district hospitals where you practice more or less independently.
- Being able to be exposed to the weird and wonderful and the common local referral gave a good understanding and scope of medicine in SA, especially if you want to specialise. Being available and showing interest definitely allowed registrars and consultants to allow you to do procedures that other facilities would never expose you to.
- You get as much as you want.
- Clinical explosure depends on the initiative you show. You do get the opportunity to do more than paper-pushing (which people assume is all you do at GSH), but it depends on you.
Social Scene:
- Right in the heart of Cape Town.
- For some reason we never got together as a group during internship. Also Cape Town people are ‘clicky’ and don’t invite you often. Can be lonely if you don’t know many people in Cape Town
- With a big group of people, bound to meet a nice group of colleagues who socialize together. Usually ends up being those that you rotate with.
- It’s Cape Town. You can find like-minded people anywhere for almost anything you’re interested in, from Trail running to Restaurant hopping etc.
- In the heart of Cape Town, so much to do in the area and surrounds. Intern group is big enough to have your own group and also have a life outside of medicine.
Additional Comments:
- It’s not difficult work as you are under the supervision of many doctors and seniors. But be expected to maintain a standard, arrive early and do the grunt work. Too many interns expect early days and light workloads. If you go the extra mile, it’s an investment into your future as you will one day be applying for registrar posts and MO posts at Groote Schuur and surrounding areas.
- I loved my internship at GSH, wouldn’t change it. It was the perfect amount of clinical and academics. It really is what you make of it. Be keen and ask to do things. Be a team player and help each other out. And
- A place where you can take a bit of a step back and regroup yourself.
- Groote Schuur has less interns now (since 2022) and so work pressure is higher but clinical exposure is much increased. Far fewer calls/ hours than other hospitals for most blocks and generally good teaching. Definitely did not feel like a paper pusher this year.
- More hands-on than you’d expect, but you still feel like a small part of a huge machine and the power gradient is significant. One of the best places to do Anaesthetics as an intern.
- Best internship decision I could’ve made. The connections and relationships I made as an intern at GSH, laid the foundation for my career, in terms of guidance, research opportunities, MO and Reg posts. A little bit of extra dedication and the right attitude at GSH and you won’t go wrong.
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