Rural Allowance: No
Doctors Quarters:
- Res like conditions, filthy in a dodgy area.
- Clean and well maintained.
- Cockroaches!
- Building dilapidated, old furniture, not well maintained, cockroaches galore especially in the warmer seasons (would really not recommend it unless you have to).
- Electricity is expensive.
- Not clean. You will have to share a bathroom and if your roommates are not tidy this is a big no go, especially when you are exhausted from work. Cockroaches are plenty.
- If you prefer private housing you get a housing allowance.
Academics:
- Semi tertiary hospital. Learnt allot
- Well structured, the senior doctors are willing to teach and they are very supportive during calls .
- Variable depending on the department you’re in. Internal medicine, paediatrics, anaesthesia excellent departments when it comes to teaching. OnG and surgery not great had to teach myself mostly.
- Loads of registrars and consultants who are willing and eager to teach. Interns expected to do presentations in each rotation which serves as a learning opportunity as well. Some departments, like internal medicine and paediatrics, you actually like a mini exam/mcq which they use to gauge how much knowledge you gained from the rotation and they use that as well as other factors to decide whether to sign you out or not.
- Dependent heavily on the department. Some departments excel at this others are a joke.
- Depends on department. Excellent for internal medicine.
- Internal medicine academics is excellent.
Supervision:
- Supervision is poor. Alone allot. But never experienced where nobody came. Eventually you do get help
- They will never leave you to do a call alone while they are sleeping… I enjoyed my stay there … they are also very knowledgeable.
- Good supervision with enough room for independence.
- Good supervision for most of the rotations.
- Too much expectations.
- The supervision is quite good actually. There are few times when you are just left alone. But that depends on individual seniors rather than the department as a whole.
- Most departments have great supervision by friendly supportive MOs Registrars and consultants.
Clinical Exposure:
- Good very practical
- You will see most medical conditions, in most of the departments … more so in internal medicine , pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology
- Great exposure to broad range of pathology however most of our more complex cases referred to Bara.
- You will do as much as you are willing to do. You can do your own BMATs, put up cvp, plueral taps, ascitic taps, admit and manage patients yourself, cut c-sections/perform loads of MVAs.
- Less surgical exposure, saturated.
- You are going to be overwhelmed and overworked. But the exposure proportionally correlates. You get to do and see a lot as an intern.
- Minimal final year med students and few registrars therefore great opportunities to improve clinical skills.
- Serves a large community. Variety of conditions seen.
Social Scene:
- Not the social scene
- If you prefer a laid back kind of lifestyle, beautiful game reserves
- Dead, dry town. Literally nothing to do this side. We usually just have house parties with our colleagues. If you want more fun or things to do we usually just travel to Gauteng which is i think 1hour 30mins to 2 hours drive away.
- Relatively OK, rife with crime.
- If you want a social scene forget about it, especially if you come from places like Joburg. There is barely much in variety of shops and many places close too soon or open late. It’s not conducive in first year cause you are always in a rush to finish just to get basic necessities sorted.
Additional Comments:
- Anaesthetics also great.
- The best complex especially, if you planning to specialize soon after community service . Good network .
- Best place to do your internship.
- Overall, wouldn’t really recommend this hospital. Its extremely intern unfriendly with ridiculous hours to work (as compared to my other colleagues in Gauteng, Eastern Cape and Free State) some rotations you basically don’t have post call and nothing to do outside of work for leisure or to pick up nice, interesting hobbies to take your mind off work. You will gain the necessary experience and exposure to be a good doctor, but honestly I don’t think it has anything to do with the hospital, internship and I’m sure you’ve heard this numerous times is “what you make out of it”, and you can get all of these in a place that has better working hours and a more intern friendly environment. I feel like this hospital is set on the old ways of doing internship, interns slave away a lot. What’s more attractive now is having a well rounded, balanced life: having staff to do and having a life outside of work. Mental health in doctors is becoming a priority nowadays, and unfortunately this hospital has a long way to go in that respect.
- Highly recommended.
- After completing internship at KT complex you are well equipped for comm serve where ever you go.
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