Is pursuing a medical career viable in SA?

NEWLY graduated doctors are now unemployed.

This was unheard of in the past when a medical graduate was guaranteed a post on the first round of applications. Surely something is amiss?

Now, specialist or registrar posts are unavailable and applications are turned down resulting in no training happening across the country.

Yet in public hospitals there is a never-ending wait for scans, ultrasounds and scopes. Patients with early symptoms of a health problem present themselves at a hospital but are then given mild medication or told to come back, sometimes three to nine months later as the medical equipment needed is broken.

Diseases, like cancer, are left to final stages despite presentation in early stages, and even simple illnesses are left untreated.

“Every day it gets worse,” says the head of the Kwazulunatal coastal branch of the South African Medical Association, Mvuyisi Mzukwa.

Tenders worth billions for the purchase and maintenance of all hospital equipment in Kwazulunatal and have not provided much.

The alleged rackets and related internal corruption with senior medical staff at state hospitals is also something that needs investigation.

In some hospitals the new equipment never reaches the floor.

Once a state-of-the-art referral hospital, Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital has had several specialist doctors resign, leaving patients with no further specialised treatment for their complications.

What happened to the government’s policy of spending money on clinics and nurses and improving basic health care system so that fewer people need specialist treatment?

In March, the director-general of health, Precious Matsoso‚ told Parliament that there were many unfilled vacancies across the country as the provincial departments of health could not afford to hire the doctors they needed.

The state health service is inadequate and this will be an ongoing issue for the simple reason of maladministration and misappropriation of allocated budgets in this country’s leadership from government to the clerk at the hospital.

Unreasonable on call schedules, then lack of sleep and ill-equipped hospitals leads to frustration and uncertainty for senior state doctors or consultants.

Where does that leave a junior doctor who has accepted a post to serve in a rural community in terms of health-care standards as taught in books and ward rounds at training hospitals?

South African medical schools are known to have a high academic standard, that is until one reaches the clinics and hospitals.

Another disturbing factor is the ongoing strikes at the state morgues, where bodies are left unattended and delayed post mortems lead to delays in funeral arrangements and burial.

Again, cold rooms in morgues are inoperative and this leads to faster decomposition and delays post-death resolution.

Saving lives is a priority, but is medicine still a viable option and choice for many South African students, where each and every year medical seat allocations and acceptance are such a mission?

SHAMEEMA OMAR Durban North