Rural Allowance: No
Doctors Quarters:
- Overall, the DQ is super clean, well managed, and maintenance is quite attentive. You’re on the hospital generator so loadshedding is never an issue, and the cost is excellent value for what you get. When I was there, there was no internet however, but Telkom LTE has crazy good coverage in Worcester.
There are singles and couples DQ. Singles DQ is more like a Res setup: a double-story building with single rooms. The rooms are decently sized and most have en-suites; otherwise you share 2 people to 1 bathroom at worst. There is a shared kitchen on each floor and a laundry room shared by everyone in DQ which works on a token system.
There are 4 couples DQ townhouses. Each has 2 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, an open plan kitchen and lounge, as well as a small enclosed stoep. In order to live here, you need to submit a marriage certificate to the Res management when applying to stay there. If there aren’t enough married couples to fill the spots, senior interns can apply to roommate in empty flats. Residence Management will inform you if this is an option. - Separate living quarters for single and married people. Single quarters are shared kitchen and communal spaces, with private bathroom. Married quarters is a 2 bedroom, one bathroom stand alone apartment.
Academics:
- Worcester is a teaching hospital with SU students permanently based there. There is a good amount of teaching – both formal and informal.
- Depends on department. Not as academic as tertiary hospitals but good programmes for the students, which interns can benefit from.
Supervision:
- Every rotation has excellent supervision except for EC because of how busy it is.
- Always have good support.
Clinical Exposure:
- Excellent all round, I didn’t lack anything in my exposure over the course of internship.
- Amazing opportunity to get loads of procedures done. Everyone goes over their 10 C-sections, if they want to.
Social Scene:
- If you drink alcohol there’s a bunch of wine farms to visit, otherwise there are a couple of good coffee shops and restaurants. If you’re outdoorsy, there are a bunch of hiking and biking trails. If you’re not outdoorsy, then Cape Town is only 1.5hrs away.
- Quiet. Everything closes early. Very few resturants.
Additional Comments:
- Worcester is an Afrikaans town and patients are majority Afrikaans-speaking. The hospital itself is English and teaches in English (mandated by SU and they’re fairly good with it) but you will need to be competent in Afrikaans to effectively manage patients. I’m English and was fluent in Afrikaans by the end of internship.
- Amazing place for internship. Would10/10 recommend.
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