Rural allowance: No

Doctor’s Quarters – 3/5

• 3 and a half star – really decent. Small bachelors flat that can fit a double/queen bed with space for a small couch/small dining table. Connection for DSTV. Small kitchen – enough for one person. Bar fridge and stove included. Your own bathroom with a bath and shower attachment (no shower). Most incredible views of Johannesburg.
• Single bachelor apartment newly renovated , 7 floor story building with your own kitchen bathroom and room, the only furniture provided is a mini fridge.
• I didn’t stay in DQ but they are quite decent.R900 per month and you get your own “apartment” with a small kitchen and bathroom. The DQ is safe.
• Very good for the very small price to pay.

Academics – 3.5/5

• Obs and Gynae – really great, morning M&M meetings. Guidelines for both Obs and Gynae which are really easy to follow.
  Daily academic rounds with consultants in Medicine and Surgery. Aimed at registrars. Interns are the work horse.
  Ortho – good, daily meetings discussing the evenings cases and interns are expected to participate.
  Anaesthetics – excellent. Weeks of lectures with the Helen and Bara interns before starting your time in Anaesthetics.
  Psych – some teaching on ward rounds.
  Paeds – some teaching on ward rounds.
  Fam Med – no teaching
• Being tertiary and academic the focus on such is on the Registrars and students . You need to take initiative in order to learn.
• Academics via M&Ms and morning meetings were only during rotations like Orthopaedics, Paediatrics , Obs and Gynae and I felt I learnt alot during those times. Internal Med and Surgery there wasn’t much teaching so I don’t feel 100% confident in those departments.
• You join ward rounds with medical students and academic meetings in most rotations. It’s a teaching hospital.
• It’s an academic hospital so loads of teaching.

Supervision – 4.5/5

• You are never alone. There is always a registrar or medical officer that will be on call with you. There are things you’re expected to do on your own, but if you struggle there’s always someone available to ask.
• As much as the supervision is amazing, it also makes you not that independent in terms of decision making. So you’re an admin king/ Queen who can do everything but not know why or when to do it.
• There is always an MO, reg and consultant around. It’s a good working environment in general because in a lot of cases even the nurses can help you a lot in stressful situations. I’ve had a few resuscitations where the MO/reg took their time to come assist but generally always someone to ask if you’re stuck.
• You’re often alone on call, so not always supervised. Surgery are the biggest culprits here.
• Consultants, registrars, MOs, comserves… there’s always someone around.

Clinical Exposure – 3.5/5

• Varies from department to department.
  Obs and Gynae – as the intern you run the admissions for both Obs and Gynae (separately run, either on call for Obs or on call for Gynae). You are able to get your C sections if you’re keen. Good exposure to Obs clinics including high risk pregnancies. No exposure to Gynae clinics, but any elective admissions are done by the intern.
  Ortho – average exposure. Run admissions on call and discuss with the reg regarding a plan placement of POPs and back slabs, reductions too with assistance from reg if you’re keen. No theatre time. No clinic exposure. Lost of ward work.
  Surgery – run the wards, don’t see patients in casualty (you can if you’re keen, but the wards keep you busy). Surgery time if you’re keen and go to theatre. I was able to do appendectomies, anastomoses of bowel, but most interns had no surgical time.
  Anaesthetics – really great exposure but depends on the reg you’re with and how much they let you do and are comfortable with you doing. I was with a senior reg who let me run most lists with her assistance. I wasn’t able to do any loco regional blocks as the registrars needed to get their numbers up. Paeds is limited – consultants were a bit nervous for interns to tube.
  Paeds – either on call for neonates or paeds. Neonates is busy with Caesar bleeps. You run the transitional unit and the neonates wards and sometimes the high care depending on the evening. Can be stressful. But always a senior to assist with any issues. I didn’t get any experience in tubing the neonates or kiddies. Neonates wards are busy. Paeds is more chilled, fewer admissions overnight. If you’re in first year you get a month of casualty where you clerk the patients and decide whether they need admission. If you’re in second year you get to do special clinics which are really nice – I spent time in the HIV clinic which was really valuable.
  Internal medicine – very different to other hospitals. There is no general medicine, only subspecialties: Cardiology, Pulmonology, Oncology, GIT, Infectious Disease, Rheumatology, Endocrine, Neurology, Haematology. You rotate monthly and won’t get exposure to all of the specialities. It is dominated by ward work. You hardly see patients – it does depend on which speciality you rotate through. On call you don’t clerk patients you essentially do a ward call. Good for skills development – lots of opportunity to perform procedures.
  Family medicine – good exposure to primary care. Rotate to Hillbrow clinic, Alex Clinic and HIV clinic.less supervision than at hospital, but there still is supervision and you should technically not be left alone – this does sometimes happen. But help is always a call away. On call done at the clinics casualty.
  Psych – rotate for a month. On call done in casualty to clerk the patients referred to psych. Always with a reg on call and patient will be reviewed by the reg on call as well. Spend time in casualty, the “transition ward” and the long stay ward.
• Very specialized for example internal medicine you rotated through different departments ie I got cardio onco, rheum and Neuro. You do ward calls mostly for surgery and internal Med, as admissions are done by the MO and Reg on call, and going to theatre is rare for interns unless you’re in ONG.
• Not much clinical exposure. Especially in Surgery and Orthopaedics, I only went to the theatres once or twice. Definitely more of a paper pusher but it’s important to also take initiative if you’re interested in certain specialties.
• You need to push if you want to get opportunities to do anything more than ward work.
• Rotation dependant. In some departments you get to do a lot, while in others you’ll push paper.

Social Scene – 2/5

• A lot of people from Joburg stay here and have their close circles. As someone coming from another university there isn’t much happening in terms of social scene to meet people so does require a bit of effort on your part.
• Well not in terms of interns at the hospital but you’re in central Jhb it’s the best.
• It’s in Johannesburg so there’s Rosebank and Sandton literally 20 minutes away. A lot to do.
• Intern groups have little to no interaction, and unless you make friendships in your small group you’re basically going to only have a professional relationship with people.
• It’s Jozi.

Final Comments

• The Gen gets a reputation of being very chilled, it’s really not the case, you work hard and long hours. Your patient load is a lot and the expectation and requirement of interns is ALOT in terms of you doing everything. I know people say Bara is hectic which is it! But you’re always on call with 2/3 other people (interns) there – at the Gen you’re most of the time alone with either an MO or Reg- so in terms of work load it’s also very intense.

  It really doesn’t leave you very confident in managing cases alone but I’m 2 weeks into my comm serve and managing just fine. Those trainer wheels are off.

  All in all it’s not bad, I guess we have to take as much as we can from where ever we are placed and focus on achieving being safe competent Doctor. You have the opportunity to learn and grow no matter what resources you have or where you’re placed.

• CMJAH isn’t as busy as Bara, but you’ll get adequate exposure and have a social life.

Rural allowance: No

Doctor’s Quarters – 1.5/5

• Revamped- no showers initially, very few functional toilets. No communal kitchen

• Only used it on ward call and it is very basic.

• Hearsay – not great: run down, inconsistent water and electricity supply.

• Terrible. Do not recommend

• Poorly lemon, no security, old facilities. Shared bathrooms and no cooking facilities.

• Not fit for human habitation. Old odour, cockroaches, shared bathrooms. It was just a place to keep my luggage and lay my head for a few hours daily.

• Only slept here during psych block as the on call room was here. Very dodgy and creepy bathrooms that didnt work. No electricity as well. Would not recommend- also you need to get out of Bara when you aren’t working.
• Bathrooms are shared. The place is small. People are always getting robbed or flooded.

Academics – 3.5/5

• Surprisingly little teaching for a teaching hospital. More emphasis on pushing patient load. Obviously senior and block dependent.

• Not as much formal teaching as other hospitals, but a great team that is very willing to teach if you show interest.

• Excellent ward rounds, teaching sessions and M&Ms

• It depends which rotation you are in. Most academic meetings/grand ward rounds were cancelled due to COVID so in all honesty not alot of emphasis was placed on academics.

• Consultants always available. Teaching rounds in all disciplines.
  Lack of teaching.

• Tutorials organised, great supervision, easy access for attending courses around Gauteng.
  Consultant ward rounds with good teaching. Regular M&Ms. Teaching by registrars and consultants.

• Since the workload is so heavy, you don’t get much time to read about the cases you see, however the registrars and consultants are eager to teach.

• The consultants are extremely knowledgeable and well-recognised. Furthermore, the hospital is part of the Wits circuit, so teaching is both at a student and registrar level.
• Good teaching rounds (internal med) /PIWR, I was lucky with having approachable consultants so those were enjoyable times to learn. It’s what you make of it though, everyone is willing to teach, but often you’re very busy getting other work done that any formalized teaching could feel like a big disruption in your day…I tended to avoid those sessions where possible for that reason.
• Very dependent on the block. Some blocks are busy and formal teaching does not happen (Internal medicine, Surgery, Neonates). Teaching in anaesthesia, orthopaedics, peads and psych was excellent. You will learn on rounds as well- most of the learning is done by doing and seeing patients. The patient profile is immense and packed with weird and wonderful cases. Looking back, now a few years after internship, I would not have felt comfortable to be on my own in community service without the practical, hands on training I received from Bara.
• Non-existent in most departments.
• Consultant rounds, registrar teaching, academic hospital with medical students from Wits.
• Some departments are better at teaching than others. It’s also depended on who you get as a senior but there is generally teaching.
• It is department/rotation dependant. Internal medicine/pediatrics/gen surgery was a great platform to learn as an intern also exposure was great in internal. Taught me discipline, time management, multi-tasking.
  Obs/gyn- I didn’t learn much.
  Enjoyed family med time with some district and casualty time. Anesthesia was another good academic opportunity to learn as an intern.

Supervision – 4/5

• There is always help available if needed, however you are taught and encouraged to be independent. A lot of allowances to do procedures alone.

• Excellent. Seniors always available to assist or to allow you to run cases/theatre or management just refining at the end.

• ALWAYS a senior around! You are never alone.

• MO’s and registrars always available

• There’s always someone senior around. They usually end up helping or taking over.

• Supervision galore on all levels

• Always supervised through each rotation

• There is ALWAYS a senior to ask

• You are rarely alone, and seniors are very willing to help in list of the blocks.

• Your reg is a whatsapp/phone call away. You’re never really alone. If you feel out of your depth, or need clarity there’s definitely someone to call and help will come. At the same time, you can have times where you’re trusted to be independent. You’ll round alone, then do a quick round with the regs, you’ll prompt the queries in consultant rounds (often because you know the patients and their results backwards and remember the niggly things). You’ll be clerking everyone in the admission wards or the surgical pit, making some calls on immediate management etc.
• You’re never alone. There are always people to help.
• Always senior support available.
• 100 percent full on supervision 24/7.

Clinical Exposure – 4.5/5

• A wide variety of conditions encountered and you get a massive amount of exposure to procedures

• All expected pathologies seen in abundance

• You will see everything. The only let down again was the pandemic led to things like respiratory clinics being cancelled etc..

• You see everything

• You see a lot of things ! It’s immense ! But you do with that what you want because seniors aren’t interested in teaching . They just want the ward work to be done.

• Heavy patients load, wide spectrum of clinical conditions seen and managed, numerous opportunities to practice clinical skills and procedures.

• Practical exposure to most common clinical conditions

• Because of the size of the hospital and it being tertiary level, as well as the large number of patients, you are exposed to a variety of clinical presentations and procedures.

• It’s Bara. You just see so much.
• You learn how to deal with quantity- internal medicine
  The practical learning is phenomenal- your logbook will be so full, most people stop even logging things. You will perform procedures and become comfortable just by the sheer numbers you do. CVP’s, Lines, Suturing, IV’s, Resus, Ultrasounds.
  You see a wide variety of cases.
• Amazing exposure to multiple pathologies & clinical skills.
• You see everything therefore you work more hours.

Social Scene – 3/5

• Very busy work environment, not always a lot of time outside of work to socialize, but a great work team and you develop a fantastic bond with the other interns and regs you work with.

• You work too hard and too much to be able to socialise as often.

• It’s in Johannesburg so lots to do. 1st year is rough with minimal free time. 2nd year has ample free time.

• Your only friends are Your colleagues

• Covid and also interns are too tired to socialise .

• You have no life outside the hospital. Always too tired, always too busy

• There really isn’t much of a social scene. But good comradery between interns. Any social events are organised between interns themselves.

• Coffee dates at Maloti’s are a must

• Your colleagues become your social scene, as days off are few and far between. However, it’s a great age to be in Johannesburg and the nightlife and social scene (when you find free time) is great.

• There really isn’t one, haha! You’ll make good friends with your group/rotation of interns (shared trauma will make it so). The Bara camraderie is a thing. Maybe I was just lucky with my group, but you’d find your friends, go help/hang out while finishing ward work. We were a team. The patient load is high, so there’s always something to do, you often leave after 5pm (def the case in 1st year rotations, 2nd year is better with free time) you’re on call every 4th day from what I remember (can depend on the block). Most of us were just too tired or had schedule clashes, so meeting outside of work is tricky.
• So you work, ALOT. It calms down a bit in second year (except neonates), but there are definitely people at other hospitals having a better social experience than you. It’s what you make of it though, and I had friends who did make the most of it. It’s all about asking yourself what do you want out of internship- because if you want another two years of pretending to be a medical student, Bara is not for you.
• Great teamwork allowing friendships to develop.

Final Comments

• Although a very busy environment, there is the opportunity for lots of learning if you are willing to put the time in. At the end of your 2 years you will be confident to handle most emergency situations alone and will be proficient in procedures. Bara is known globally to produce hard working and knowledgeable doctors who are capable and confident.

• Excellent! Would advise for internship

• 10/10 would recommend

• Don’t come to Bara. You’ll regret it .

• If you get or choose Bara, make sure you have a solid social and family structure to back you up.
  It’s a tough place to do internship. You will work hard and have long hours (although these hours are no more well regulated) but the experience is truly great.

• Internal Med I rated highly because I loved it. It was honestly my favourite simply because I felt most like a doctor there. I had a hard intro to it (my first reg was… Bad…it’s a long story…) but I loved it. But it’s not an easy rotation. Paeds and psych I rated as average: I disliked these immensely, but the rotations themselves are fine. Other ppl loved them. Ortho was just soooo much fun. Great Regs, lots of laughs.

  Really, it’s all what you make of it. None of it is “easy” but it was a great experience. That being said: I am a “Bara person”. I’ve always liked the chaos. Things are not neatly set out, things aren’t in one place or one building, you will be parking in some weird patch of veldt at some point, you will hoard forms and supplies (jelcoes, BMAT stuff), sterile packs in wards can seem like stuff of legend (and often like overkill). If having a neat, organized, to the letter workspace or environment is important to you… If thinking on your feet scares you, or learning as you go sounds too casual… Bara will be a challenge…but it’s an epic one.

• If you’re prepared to work hard (maybe unnecessarily) then choose Bara. You may never work harder in your life again- just based on the physicality of it all. You probably will end up with stockholm syndrome though. No place can run on pure chaos like this place.
• An excellent experience. You get out what you put in.

Rural allowance: No

Doctor’s Quarters – 2/5

• Old and poorly maintained
• You can get a single room without a kitchen, or a small flat with a living room and kitchen.

Academics – 2.5/5

• Some departments
• The teaching is very self driven, and department dependent.

Supervision – 2.5/5

• Very good supervision
• The only dept with proper supervision was Anaesthetics.

Clinical Exposure – 3.5/5

• Better in some questions
• You’ll have to be very independent. Since it’s a tertiary hospital, you see the worst of pathologies so you will be exposed to very sick patients.

Social Scene – 1.5/5

• It’s what you make it

Final Comments

Rural allowance: No

Doctor’s Quarters – 2.5/5

• Didn’t stay but most of the doctors moved out within the first 6 months.

Academics – 3/5

• Various teaching ward rounds, M&M’s and teaching meetings in all departments.

Supervision – 4/5

• Hardly ever had to do anything alone as an intern. Supervision is good.

Clinical Exposure – 4/5

• ERH is a regional hospital so most of the more complicated cases are transferred. But the clinical exposure is surprisingly great with many “rare” cases seen. I think I saw almost everything one could see as a medical doctor.

Social Scene – 2.5/5

• It’s near the city so it’s what you make of it. Intern group is relatively small so not too many opportunities to make work friends if you’re new in the area.

Final Comments

Doctor’s Quarters – 3/5

Academics – 4/5

Supervision – 4/5

Clinical Exposure – 5/5

Social Scene – 5/5

Rural allowance: No

Doctor’s Quarters – 2.5/5

• Average upkeep, unsafe.
• I don’t stay there myself, but I’ve only heard bad things about it. It is old and run down, with lots of cockroaches. It is not on the hospital premises, but at Pretoria West hospital about 10min drive away.
• I don’t stay there myself, but from what I’ve heard it is not the best. Unsafe and not very clean. However, it is very affordable and about 10mins drive from Kalafong.
• Toilets always broken, can’t flush, clogged. And you are very far away from another one. Nowhere to warm food/boil water. You have to go to a ward which is normally locked at night and then they don’t want you to be there anyway.

Academics – 3.5/5

• Good internal, everything else dependent on registrar.
• One of the reasons I came to this hospital. Especially paediatrics and internal medicine have great academics!
• If you are into academics you can join all the department’s academic meetings with the registrars, but it is not always compulsory.

Supervision – 4/5

• Again, paediatrics and internal medicine have very good supervision and support. Surgery and obs&gynae have less, but still more than other hospitals.
• In every department there is always a senior to call or to ask.

Clinical Exposure – 4.5/5

• Kalafong is a tertiary hospital in a rural area, so you see something of everything. If you seem keen, the senior doctors will let you do a lot.

Social Scene – 2.5/5

• Crisp coffee shop on the hospital premises is only for students and staff, which makes it a great place to chill for lunch/coffee and meet people from other departments.
• You have your group of friends, but we don’t really do things as an intern group.

  There is however a very nice coffee shop with great lunches and fantastic coffee for staff and students where you can just get away from the patients and the wards for a few minutes and breath in some fresh air.

Final Comments

• Good EU exposure. Orthopedics is not run very well. Paediatrics and internal medicine really good academics as well as anaesthesia.

Rural allowance: No

Doctor’s Quarters – 2/5

• Can’t comment as never stayed in the DQ

• I’ve heard it’s not great and poorly serviced

• Unsure

• Did not stay there

Academics – 3.5/5

• Good teaching overall, very department, consultant and reg specific.
• Not much teaching
• Good teaching but affected by covid so no formal teaching in most departments
• Most rotations involve some kind of teaching. The academic programme has been hampered by Covid however most people are willing to still teach
• Excellent teaching in Paeds, HIV, Obs Gyn, Anaesthetics; frequent tuts and good registrars
• Depends on the department you are rotating in- obgyn, paeds, anaesthesia tend to provide academic meetings and practical sessions.
• Very little to no teaching. Only Departments that offer teaching are Obs and gynae, Paeds and Anaesthetics

Supervision – 4.5/5

• Supervision mostly great, barring a couple of dodgy registrars that would leave you on call alone, but this can happen at any hospital in the country. Even then, there was always someone else you could call.
• Almost too much supervision
• Always have supervision, typer of supervision varies with each person
• Almost always someone to help
• Rarely alone, good MO/ registrar/ consultant quality
• Academic hospital so there will always be someone on site more senior than you that can come assist in person or provide advice.
• Depends on Department. Always some sort of supervision available, but quality of it varies.

Clinical Exposure – 5/5

• Helen Joseph and Rahima Moosa are great in that you get to see a wide variety of cases that don’t always require the specialisation and compartmentalisation of a hospital like CMJAH. There are still interesting and unusual cases but there is a fair share of the common things that occur commonly.
• Overly supervised, not much independence. You won’t get to cut in surgery unless you really push
• Learnt alot in various departments, you must take initiative
• While tertiary there is always opportunities to perform and get exposure if you’re willing. Again Covid has hampered the exposure to a point
• Very busy, varied pathologies however you are rarely alone in the “deep end”
• Varies from primary health care conditions to more complicated cases.
• Good exposure in most disciplines. ++clinical procedures. Surgery Theatre time, etc. Is dependent on the intern’s interest. Little to no ortho theatre time.

Social Scene – 3/5

• Almost non-existent intern social scene unless you bond and organise with your own small group.

• Dependent on your friends and colleagues and what u make of it. Much better in second year internship

• Not much by way of colleagues due to Covid but Jhb has many places to go out and about

• Very nice people but not a close knit community, no nice DQ culture

• Maybe not that vibey but still a big hospital with exposure to lots of collaegues opportunity to make lifelong friends.

Final Comments

• Internship is what you make of it. Not all hospitals and rotations are equal but if you have the right attitude you can still learn a great deal in any environment. Helen Joseph and Rahima Moose are excellent with regards to supervision but also allow a junior doctor to develop his/her own judgement and decision making skills. They provide a well balanced program on the whole.

• A good hospital for internship on overall, you work hard and learn alot

• Great supervision, good exposure, busy but balanced, central location and most of Fam Med is based at the main hospitals.

• Medicine is very reg dependent. No teaching for interns. A lot of admin. Team dependent. Calls can be hectic, especially ward calls.

  Surgery very team dependent. If you have a weak or lazy team, it will be rough. Also very reg dependent. Good exposure to procedures and theatre if you have a keen interest in surgery. Busy calls.

  Paediatrics has good senior support, lots of teaching. Approachable consultants who are around most of the time. Very structured and you get guidelines for common conditions. Calls can be hectic especially because of c/s Theatre, but is manageable most of the time, and the seniors will help you if needed. Done at RMMCH. Overall a hectic rotation but enjoyable and a decent quality of life during this time.

  OBS and gynae: worst rotation as an intern. Little support, tons of work, terrible work environment at RMMCH. Calls are a nightmare as you’re left on the floor alone during the night. 2 interns on call but 1 will be in theatre at all times. Days are just as hectic. ++stress throughout this rotation. C/s can be difficult to get due to pressure on seniors to push c/s list due to lots of emergencies. Gynae is a bit more manageable but still chaotic. On any given day, you are allocated to one place, but are required to do ward rounds, ward work, be at your allocation, help out in ANC, cover the ward patients. A lot of pressure all of the time. You do come out of it ready for anything though. And a little traumatised.
  Expect max 2 hrs rest during 24hr calls in Surgery, OnG and Paeds, and expect no rest during a medicine 12hr call, 1 quick meal during that time and an AKI.

  2nd year rotations are more tolerable and will leave you wondering what to do with your time.

  Family med is split between Discoverers CHC for 2 months and 1 month in polyclinic, ED, HIV clinic, and Paeds clinic. Decent quality of life. HJH ED can be hectic but you hlget a lot of support.

  Ortho has morning meetings for teaching but it’s aimed at Registrars. Good senior support, exposure to all the basics, no theatre exposure really.

  Psychiatry is well run, with exposure to all aspects. Great support and very structured department.

No information yet.

Rural allowance: No

Doctor’s Quarters – 1/5

• Very very basic. Most move out. But lots of Accommodation close by that’s safe and affordable
• Wouldn’t recommend at all.
• I would not recommend. It’s like an unkempt res. A lot move out.

Academics – 4/5

• Consultant in every department, improving as the years go by. Academic presentations are required by interns to facilitate learning.
• The academics are moderate. Interns are required to present topics, but it’s not overwhelmingly academic. Mostly clinical.
• Very academic. They will find a way to teach you either through academic ward rounds or academic presentations. Interns are expected to present in all rotations.

Supervision – 3/5

• You’re always supervised however sometimes the level of supervision can be a bit of a problem.
• Supervision is mostly great in Internal medicine and Paeds. During the day in surgery you can find that you and your other interns will have to manage the ward alone.

Clinical Exposure – 4/5

• Small hospital with lots of patients and lots of pathology but good balance between work and play. Not overwhelming busy.
• You are exposed to an array of clinical presentations. And the doctors and sister really do guide you in terms of management.
• A busy hospital but you get exposure to a lot of conditions. I’ve learnt a lot with my time here.

Social Scene – 3/5

• It’s the East rand so pretty dead but there’s lots of things around if you’re willing to drive 30min out. Carnival city is 10m from the hospital.
• It’s the East rand. Lol.
• Listen. It’s the East. If you’re a big socialite I would not recommend.

Final Comments

• Would recommend it.
• I would recommend it. If you want a hospital that is clean, with kind and helpful nursing staff and is not overwhelming busy during calls. I would recommend this hospital

Rural allowance: No

Doctor’s Quarters – 3/5

Academics – 4/5

Supervision – 4/5

Clinical Exposure – 4/5

Social Scene – 2/5

Rural allowance: No

Doctor’s Quarters – 3/5

• I didn’t personally live there, but had friends who did and it looked pretty decent. Looked like a normal flat you would rent.
• There are 2, Lissa Hoff and Ella Hoff. Lissa Hoff is 500m down the road from the hospital. Looks quite like a prison, it is dangerous to walk outside but there are some people I know who walk to the hospital. Very cheap, great value for money.
• There are 4 different DQ’s where they can place you. Decent all in all. Great value for money and close to the hospital.

Academics – 3.5/5

• Academic hospitals always had registrars and consultants, so naturally academics must be attended.
• I expected more academics from seniors but most of the time academics were aimed at students. We never attended most academics due to ward work. If you ask though, you will receive. Many consultants and specialists always available.
• You have morning meetings, journal club discussions, ethics meetings and tutorials for interns. Academic ward rounds also helps a lot to teach!!

Supervision – 4/5

• There are always consultants and registrars above you so you never make hard decisions alone. Considered pretty sheltered.
• We were always 100% supervised and never left alone. Most of the time we are not allowed to make decisions and follow direct orders from registrars and consultants.
• Always available, always willing to help & teach if you are willing.

Clinical Exposure – 3.5/5

• Academic hospitals always had the more interesting, uncommon or unusual cases. For internship, being exposed to common things is more important… I felt that the clinical exposure was either the most severe cases of the common things or uncommon things. I don’t think it is a good place if your goal is to be a GP.
• We did see some common conditions, especially during family medicine, but mostly specialized stuff. Patients are not allowed to come to Steve Biko unless referred, or in a dire emergency, so exposure was definitely limited with a small patient load.
• Seeing the weird and wonderful things AS WELL AS normal, common conditions.

Social Scene – 3/5

• Super lonely. Steve Biko is a big hospital with few interns. You call alone, so you become friends with your seniors and end up working in different firms alone with no other colleagues/one other colleague.

Final Comments

• Tertiary Hospital with too few interns. Not an ideal environment
• You don’t work long hours at Steve Biko. You don’t manage patients yourself, and so it doesn’t prepare you well for Comm Serve.
• Honestly doesn’t deserve the criticism SBAH usually receives. Definitely depends on your attitude – if you’re willing to work and learn, no better place to be.

Rural allowance: No

Doctor’s Quarters – 2/5

• Super old, falling apart.
• There aren’t many spaces in DQ to stay and I’m not sure what they are like but the on call rooms are very old. They try and give a bed and chair per room but they aren’t very comfortable and the rooms are cold.
• Quite old, paint peeling. But still clean.
• They are basically a commune. Will share bathrooms and kitchen.

Academics – 3/5

• Some departments better than others, mostly self – directed learning.
• It’s not an academic hospital but almost every rotation had intern training. What’s nice about this is while you don’t have academics all day everyday there is dedicated time aimed at interns and our level which I found very helpful.
• Differs drastically between departments. Surgery and Paeds have good academics. It is non-existent in internal medicine.
• Academics depends on your interest.
• 75% department have grand rounds, intern teaching during post intake round and intern presentations where we present to colleagues.

Supervision – 4/5

• Mostly available.
• Obviously department and senior dependent bur many of the most are extremely knowledgeable! You have a lot of independence and see the patients and admir and manage a lot but there is almost always help available which allows you to grow as a doctor but not drown.
• Again. Differs between departments. Adequate and great in surgery and Paeds. Quite lacking in internal medicine.
• Supervision is great depending on the department.
• Supervisors are easily accessible, they teach procedures and theory.
• Interns are expected to manage patients as independently as possible with guidance from seniors.

Clinical Exposure – 4.5/5

• Lots of pathology, good exposure to varied patients. ED especially, great learning opportunities
• Great exposure to all the bread and butter stuff which you want to leave internship with
• It’s excellent. Wide variety of pathologies. You manage patients and are not just a paper-pusher.
• We get to observe, see and teach student procedures like ascitic taps, pleural taps, BMATs, etc.
• Excellent exposure to medical and trauma pathologies as well as plenty of opportunity to practice skills.

Social Scene – 3/5

• It’s what you make of it.
• It depends on how close your group becomes. You tend to have the same staff around all the time. As in its not like regs who rotate so you build nice relationships throughout the hospital.
• Non-existent.
• What you make of it..
• The staff members are available and readily available for intergrated management of patients.

Final Comments

• It’s a great place to gain independence and confidence as an intern. You work hard but on the whole only from 8-16 with 88 hours over time and hardly more which offers a nice work life balance.
• Overall my internship was excellent and I now feel confident to work independently.

Rural allowance: No

Doctor’s Quarters – 1.5/5

• Shared bathrooms. No furniture.
• You share the bathroom with everyone in the building and they hardly get cleaned especially if the cleaner is on leave. only two laundry machine shared by everyone including nurses there’s always a queue.
• On the premises but residents were always complaining about cold water and broken windows.
• Problems with safety, electricity, water and rats.Some provided if necessary but is actually just the nursing home. Can be very noisy I’ve heard over weekends specifically and not really safe.

Academics – 4/5

• No boring big academic ward rounds, definitely supervision in each department if you’re keen to learn.
• You will be definitely be taught during calls and ward rounds.
• Depends on the department. Ortho, paeds, O&G are good, surgery and anaesthesia not so much. Internal med is too busy for academics really, even before covid.
• Depends on how much you want to learn, seniors are mostly keen to teach if you ask.
• Some departments are more academically inclined than others.

Supervision – 4/5

• Can be doctor dependant.
• Your senior is always around if not you can get hold of them for supervision.
• Always seniors available. Mostly medical officers. Registrars in paeds, surgery, ortho and o&g only and sometimes in fam med. Psychiatry often had no consultant and quality of supervision is poor.
• Depends on the speciality and MO.
• Always a senior to ask for guidance.

Clinical Exposure – 5/5

• You will be exposed to a variety of clinical conditions.
• Very busy hospital. Amazing trauma and paeds exposure. Gynae also amazing. Obstetrics is too hectic and patient overload.
• A very large population is served, so trauma, casualty and obstetrics pump.
• Probably the best or second best place to learn in GP.

Social Scene – 3/5

• Always tired to socialise.
• Close to Pretoria/Irene and OR tambo.
• Kind of not a big thing at Tembisa.
• Really depends on your group and preferences.

Final Comments

• Be prepared to work hard, with many late days. In your 1st year rotations.
• If you really want to be ready for comserve and be able to independent post internship trust tembisa it will definitely get you ready for comserve.
• Unbelievably busy and hard but you will learn everything you need to know. Makes comm serve easier.
• Wasn’t one of my choices, but if I could choose again I would make it my first choice. Great exposure and surprisingly safe access from the R21 for the “rural” feel.
• Avoid Tembisa. It’s not worth it.

Rural allowance: No

Doctor’s Quarters – 4/5

• It’s a fairly new hospital so the DQ is still decent. It’s basically bachelor pads and there are 2 bedroom apartments usually given to second year interns. It’s fully furnished with a bed, stove, microwave and fridge. It’s a good place to start out. It’s next to the hospital and is about a 2 minute walk from the hospital. There is a bridge connecting the hospital and the dq so you don’t have to walk on the street especially late at night. It’s an access controlled complex so fairly safe. Standard rent of about R1000 every month like other dqs is charged. They have space for a washing machine in the apartments, they do have laundry services but you pay for them from your own pocket. There is a lady who cleans people’s apartments privately at a reasonable cost. Visitors are allowed but only until 10 pm then they have to vacate the dq. No overnight sleepovers permitted, however people get around this by bribing the security or bringing in their visitors midnight (security does not check known vehicles at this time). Also there are lots of rats due to poor waste control😔. Overall the environment is well kept, there is adequate maintenance. So far one of the best dqs in the country, people mostly come to Thelle for the dq. You have to have a car eventually though because it’s in Vosloorus, limited shops around, public transport is poor and Ubers are limited due to taxi drivers. Also the place is next to the N3 so easy acces to Joburg and other places.
• The quarters are decent. They are right across the hospital so you can walk across to work. There is a safety bridge/green route for walking across at night. When I got my room keys I saw there is a cockroach problem. I fumigated before I moved in and never saw a cockroach ever again. There is a generator for load shedding. The only problem is rat infestation at the bins downstairs. So you have to park your car far away from the rats so they don’t eat away your car parts.

Academics – 3/5

• It is a regional hospital, MO led. There are consultants in each department and occasionally there are regs that rotate there from the wits circuit. They try to accommodate some academics by having topic presentations in some departments but due to covid this has been lacking. It’s definitely not like your typical circuit hospital. A good place if you want a break from the circuit.
• All rotations had us do academic presentations. Ward rounds have a lot of teaching as well. They are very open to teaching those who are eager and interested. They don’t force you if you don’t want to.

Supervision – 2/5

• In some departments there is good supervision like paeds for eg and in some you are left alone and MOs are awol. Overall I think it will make you independent because there is no reg to coddle you. You learn to survive and stay afloat although this is not ideal. It is doable though even though at times you will feel overwhelmed and exploited.
• In my personal experience I always had a senior available a phone call away if not available in person. If you tell them you’re not comfortable with a procedure they come and assist. If you want independence they give it to you as well. If you want to join in and learn where you’re not really expected, like ICU paediatrics for example, they let you join and teach you.

Clinical Exposure – 3/5

• Most cases you manage will be at the level that a regional hospital can manage, you will do a lot of those and be confident in managing them, after all common things occur commonly. There rare or more specialised cases you refer to CHBAH or CMJAH but what’s great is that you will be first to see and first to intervene.
• Thelle Mogoerane is a regional hospital and it is quite large. We have a gazillion referrals and see a lot of interesting cases most especially in trauma.

Social Scene – 4/5

• The hospital is in a township, the community is friendly as well as the staff. Most people can understand Zulu as well as Setswana. The interns here are very lively, proper party starters lol. Generally a fairly good environment to be in.
• The hospital is just South of Johannesburg so it’s not far from all sorts of entertainment/night life/adrenalin adventures you can think of. The immediate surrounding is a township/Kasi. What stood out for me with the surrounding Kasi was the food. Variety of food options.

Final Comments

• Overall I can recommend Thelle Mogoerane. It’s a great place for internship. There is no perfect place for internship, like any facility there are challenges. Keep an open mind.
• Thelle Mogoerane is a very busy hospital. The calls are very busy. The only rotations where you rest is psychiatry, and also the gateway clinic part of the family medicine rotation. The busiest rotations are paediatrics and obs and gynae.

Rural allowance: No

Doctor’s Quarters – 3.5/5

• 2 bedroom flat off hospital property. Sharing is dependent on numbers.
• DQ is split into on campus (which is apparently terrible) and then off campus about 15min drive they rent apartments for the interns (apparently very nice), usually the apartment is two bedroom sharing
• I didn’t use DQ so I don’t know anything about them.
• There are far less accommodation allocations than interns so many do not get a DQ. Some get on site DQ which is spacious with a kitchen, lounge, bedroom and bathroom in the unit, allocated to one intern, but maintenence often takes a very long time to get done and must be reported multiple times. There is an off site DQ that is sub let by DoH in a complex. There, interns have their own rooms but 2 interns share the common areas ie lounge kitchen etc. Maintenance is an issue because the hospital says it is the owner who is being sub let from who is responsible, who often don’t attend to the maintenence concerns. Those who don’t get placed into the two above dqs are placed into student accommodation with a common bathroom and kitchen for everyone, badly maintained and the hospital says because it is student accommodation, it should be maintained by the university affiliated to it.

Academics – 2.5/5

• Differs per rotation
• Obs&gyn:
  Academic: intern presentations and a really good esmoe trainer.
  Surgery: Academic: no
  Peads: Academic: around 5 “tuts” throughout the block
  Medicine: Academic: intern presentations
  Orthos: Academic: intern presentations
  Psych: Academic: presentations again
  Anasthesia: Academic: the consultant does academic lectures every 2-3 weeks.
  Fam med: Academics: intern presentations.
• Nothing in surgery, teaching during PIWR in medicine along with the odd intern presentation, paeds nothing, O&G very little teaching.
• Academics in anesthesia, psychiatry, and paeds departments is wonderful, with protocols, supervision at all times, and dedicated teaching.
  Internal medicine has some teaching on a weekly basis, consultant ward rounds daily.
  Surgery has consultant ward rounds daily and registrar support in some wards.
  Obstetrics and gynae have daily meetings with teaching on topics seen on the previous night and some practical esmoe training weekly.
  Orthopedics has minimal formal academics.
  Family medicine has weekly presentations but not much else academic.

Supervision – 3.5/5

• Differs per rotation.
• Obs&gyn: Seniors: Excellent support and kind. Willing to teach.
  Surgery: Seniors: mostly good and we have 3 registrars rotating through
  Peads Seniors: amazing, wonderful people
  Medicine: Seniors: some really good ones but mostly they aren’t great
  Orthos: Seniors: Most are decent and will come help in casualty
  Psych: Seniors: psych seniors are great as are the ED Drs.
  Anasthesia Seniors: Wonderful MOs that are willing to teach. Very strict consultant.
  Fam med Seniors: nice mostly chill
  Intern coordinators are OK if not spectacular
• You’ll never be left to drown but they do make your life unnecessarily difficult at times. In some departments anyone above intern level apparently can refuse to do covid swabs, they also often leave early instead of helping out (perhaps that’s the norm though lol).
• Excellent in paeds, anesthesia and psychiatry. One consultant each and No regs.
  Internal medicine, it depends, sometimes supervised, other times not. No registrars. Consultants rotate but there are always 3 at a given time.
  Surgery, being unsupervised for hours in casualty is common. 2 registrars rotate at the hospital.
  Obs and gynae, also a mix, seniors very understaffed so struggle to supervise and cover own duties at the same time. No registrars. 4 consultants.
  ED usually supervised. One consultant who does teaching rounds daily except Tuesdays.
  Ortho, supervision at times, deep end at times. No regs. 2 consultants.
  

Clinical Exposure – 4/5

• Generally good expose in all fields
• Obsgyn: Cutting time: yes, Loads of MVAs
  Surgery: Cutting time: no. Seniors cut and comserves if they are really eager and push for it. Lots and lots of stitching in casualty though.
  Peads: Calls: you are in casualty alone Mo’s only come down if there’s a problem but you are never ever left with something you can’t handle. You gain confidence in a safe environment
  Medicine: *worst rotation at Leratong* Calls: Ridiculously bad especially during covid. No sleep. 8-9 wards calling you all the time. Very little actual exposure just grunt work.
  Orthos: Cutting time: Generally no but then you’re not expected to be able to perform those procedures. Loads of experience with dislocations, fractures, chronic conditions.
  Psych: Wide array of conditions
  Anasthesia: You will not run a theatre alone at Leratong ever, and no that’s not a good thing
  Fam med: This is where you put everything into practice so yes loads
• Exposure to pretty much everything in the logbook.
• It’s not tertiary so advanced cases referred out. A lot of variety in terms of cold cases to more serious cases. Busy because serves large area, so patient numbers are significant.

Social Scene – 1.5/5

• Hospital has no social scene but the west Rand itself is packed with fun things to do and cheaper than the city.
• Depends on your intern group etc. I had no social scene with the people at work at all.
• Politics 3+ in some departments, wonderful working environment in others.

Final Reviews

• Internship is what YOU make of it.
• Further details:
  Obs&gyn:
  Calls: generally no sleep. 4-5 MVAs a night.
  Post call: usually at 9-10am
  Seniors: Excellent support and kind. Willing to teach.
  Academic: intern presentations and a really good esmoe trainer.
  Cutting time: yes as it’s part of your training.

  Surgery:
  Calls: sleep varies wildly depending on how much people drink that night 😂
  Post call:9-10am
  Seniors: mostly good and we have 3 registrars rotating through
  Academic: no
  Cutting time: no. Seniors cut and comserves if they are really eager and push for it. Lots and lots of stitching in casualty though.

  Peads
  Calls: can be busy but usually only until like 12pm. Varies
  Post call: around 9 after you’ve seen your patients and done the piwr.
  Seniors: amazing, wonderful people.
  Academic: around 5 “tuts” throughout the block

  Medicine:
  *worst rotation at Leratong*
  Calls: Ridiculously bad especially during covid. No sleep. 8-9 wards calling you all the time
  Post call: 12
  Seniors: some really good ones (Dr njiva got me through that rotation) but mostly they aren’t great
  Academic: intern presentations

  Orthos:
  Calls: Hectic but sometimes you can get 3-4 hours of sleep
  Post call: leave at 9 after xray meeting
  Academic: intern presentations
  Cutting time: Generally no but then you’re not expected to be able to perform those procedures. Loads of experience with dislocations, fractures, chronic conditions.

  Psych:
  Calls: you call in the ED. Generally if there’s enough Dr’s on 4 hours to rest and 1 hour for dinner separately
  Post call: 30min walk through with the consultant then home at 8:30.
  Seniors: psych seniors are great as are the ED Drs.
  Academic: presentations again
  Very chill

  Anasthesia
  Calls: can be a lot of sleep or none depending on the night.
  Post call: at 8am.
  Seniors: Wonderful MOs that are willing to teach. Very strict consultant
  Academic: the consultant does academic lectures every 2-3 weeks.

  Intern coordinators are OK if not spectacular

  All in all its what you make it here and they cap your calls at 80 hours which is nice as a lot of places don’t

• Not a terrible place to do internship but it will test your patience lol teamwork makes the dream work- remember that.
• Staff change so often it may be a completely different experience from one year to the next.