Job Description
Do you want to make a difference? Are you interested in volunteering your medical expertise to improve rural health?
The Tshemba Foundation aims to increase access to health care in under-resourced communities in the northeastern region of South Africa. To further this aim, Tshemba has established a medical volunteering program where doctors offer clinical support to patients in a public hospital and local clinics, and provide education and training to local medical staff.
Tshemba is now appealing to Canadian doctors to help it address a critical health care gap in rural South Africa where doctor shortages are posing substantial challenges to adequate health care. We welcome interest from all potential volunteers; however, the current greatest need in the area is for Family physicians, Obstetricians/Gynaecologists, Paediatricians, Internists and Anesthesiologists.
Volunteers will experience a stimulating and challenging working environment, treat conditions and cases not usually seen in urban areas, and help leave a legacy of improved quality of care by sharing knowledge and skills with local staff who are eager to learn.
Volunteers, and their partners, are given accommodations in a luxurious five-star lodge situated in a “Big 5” conservation area, free of charge, where they can safely rest, relax and take in the peaceful wonders around them.
Doctors who have volunteered with Tshemba tell us that they have been re-energized and transformed by the experience, and their passion for medicine reignited.
If you have any questions or would like to further discuss volunteering your time, please contact us at info@tshembafoundation.org
Job Requirements
- In order to practice in South Africa, all volunteers are required to first register with the Health Professionals Council of South Africa (HPCSA).
- We assist volunteers with the registration process with the HPCSA.
- To register, Canadian & U.S. licensed physicians have to provide a number of documents as proof of their training, licensing and professional good standing.
- Currently, placement lengths are flexible.
- We look forward to hosting you whether you can come for a few weeks or a few months.
Phone Number
“WITH COURAGE YOU CAN CONQUER A WORLD
BUT ONLY WITH COMPASSION CAN YOU HEAL AND BUILD IT.”
— Rasheed Ogunlaru
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
Like many great stories of hope, the Tshemba Foundation’s beginning was a culmination of many small, seemingly insignificant events that would eventually lead to an ambitious and heartfelt vision like no other.
Our story starts in 2014. The setting? A game reserve in Hoedspruit, South Africa. The catalyst? A conversation with a ranger during a game drive which lead our founder, Neil Tabatznik, to sit down with the Chief of the area and understand his community’s struggles.
Heeding to the Chief’s request for a clinic, Tabatznik began researching the feasibility of the Chief’s request and soon came to a sobering realisation: The medical infrastructure was somewhat in place, there were just not enough doctors. And so the Tshemba Foundation was born.
A UNIQUE MEDICAL VOLUNTEER PROGRAMME IS BORN
The Tshemba Foundation’s medical volunteer programme is designed to connect medical professionals with knowledge, skills, experience and a deep desire to give back with rural communities in need. Tshemba recruits local and international healthcare professionals to provide life-saving medical care to the local community with the goal of upskilling and training the local hospital staff and putting systems and procedures in place that help hospitals like Tintswalo provide quality healthcare for more patients.
It’s a win-win situation for everyone. The community that our volunteers serve gain access to a level and frequency of healthcare they would not ordinarily have, while our volunteers are offered a bushveld medical volunteering programme out of the ordinary, allowing them to rekindle their love for medicine and be inspired by the power that they have to change lives. Not only does our programme offer unlimited opportunities for personal and professional growth, but it also offers a tranquil refuge at the end of a hard day’s work in the form of our lodge (link to lodge section of the website), nestled in the Moditlo Game Reserve