First Week in the Hospital


I am in the Pediatric Trauma Surgery department at Red Cross Memorial Hospital. Red Cross is a public pediatric hospital and it receives patients from all over South Africa. Here I have learned from talking with the local residents, attendings, and staff that a large difference exists between the private and public hospitals in terms of financial support and resource availability. However, through my own observation, I can see that the staff here do an incredible job at giving top tier care while struggling with this lack of resource availability and while mitigating waste within the hospital. I am looking forward to continuing to broaden my knowledge of the healthcare system here and fully understanding the challenges faced. 

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