Helderberg Hospital

How was the accommodation?
No accommodation on site but good options include De Velde/Acorn Creek/The Huntsman/Sitari/Forest Grove.

How was the level of supervision and teaching?
There are academic meetings once a week on a Friday covering a variety of topics throughout the year. On call there is always a registrar on site and a consultant calling from home if the registrar needs assistance. You work closely with the head of department in each rotation and will get to know the senior doctors well as it is a small hospital.

How was the clinical exposure?
At Helderberg Hospital you provide a similar function to a medical officer in each department. You will be expected to work hard and efficiently. The hospital is busy and often overloaded with patients, making efficiency and speed necessary and respected assets.

You will gain plenty of hands on exposure and will be allowed to get involved in almost any clinical opportunity that presents itself. You will get plenty of cutting time during obstetrics and will be taught to manage common obstetric and gynaecology presentations. Internal medicine is the biggest department of the hospital with the highest patient load and with that come many opportunities to learn. Paediatrics is a great rotation and you will learn to be confident and proficient in managing children. Surgery is a busy department - there are clinics every day except Thursday, which is theatre day. You are expected to look after your ward patients and cover the specialist clinic patients in the afternoon. Comserves will do most of the theatre cases if they are competent but if you show interest you will be allowed to cut.

Second year rotations are less busy and generally enjoyed. There is plenty of senior cover for anaesthetics so you will always have support. Orthopaedics is one of the nicest departments - you will be in theatre almost every day and get to manage your patients from start to finish and follow them up in OOPD which is great. Psychiatry as a department is passionate about helping the community and you will learn to assess patients and manage them holistically. Family medicine is split into EC, HH general outpatients and Macassar clinic time. Each department will teach you how to function in a clinic environment and it is a nice opportunity to manage patients who are chronically ill/stable.

All calls are done in the EC - starting at 16:00 and post-call begins at 10:00 the next day. You are expected to see your ward patients before you leave.

Helderberg Hospital is not an easy internship or community service site. You work hard and will be pushed to your limit. That being said, it is a hospital that functions well, cares about managing patients correctly and where you will walk out the other side a competent and confident medical practitioner.

Was any of the following available?
Yes - X-Rays, Blood Gas Machines, Ultrasounds, NHLS, X-rays available until 20:00 on weekdays, 24h00 on weekends. On-site lab available but after-hours samples go to Greenpoint.

Academics available?
No comment.

Did you have a social life? What kept you busy/entertained?
Stellenbosch has plenty of beautiful wine farms, Helderberg mountain and Strand beach are a 10-15 minute drive away and there are plenty of great restaurants around. Cape Town is only 30 minutes away.

Any general comment/advice?
If you want to learn, fill your knowledge gaps and become a well-rounded junior doctor then Helderberg Hospital is one of the best places to do your internship. If you are not looking to work hard you will not enjoy your time here.

Overall Satisfaction with placement?
7/10