Jobs / Careers In Health In South Africa

MEDICINE IN SOUTH AFRICA

Medicine involves the diagnosis, understanding and treatment of illness. As a qualiﬁed doctor, you play a central role in society. You have the opportunity to improve people’s welfare and contribute to their well being. It’s a demanding profession, but also highly rewarding with a variety of career opportunities. For example:

As a qualiﬁed doctor, you could be:

•working as a family doctor in general practice;

•a specialist in a hospital – in child health, chronic illness or psychiatry, for example;

•a surgeon – performing life- enhancing and life-saving operations.

PHARMACY IN SOUTH AFRICA

Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences, and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of medication. The scope of pharmacy practice includes more traditional roles such as compounding and dispensing medications, and it includes more modern services related to patient care, including clinical services, reviewing medications for safety and efﬁcacy, and providing drug information.

OPTOMETRY IN SOUTH AFRICA

Optometry is a health care profession concerned with eyes and related structures, as well as vision, visual systems, and vision information processing in humans. Like most health professions, optometry education, certiﬁcation, and practice is regulated in most countries. Optometrists and optometry-related organizations interact with governmental agencies, other health care professionals, and the community to deliver eye and vision care.

RADIOGRAPHY IN SOUTH AFRICA

Radiography is the use of X-rays to view a non uniformly composed material such as the human body. By utilizing the physical properties of the ray an image can be developed displaying clearly, areas of different density and composition. Radiographers do X-Rays, CT Scans, MRI Scans, treat cancer patients with Radiotherapy machines, and do Nuclear Medicine. Ultrasonography is also a branch of Radiography that uses sound waves to create a picture to help the doctors diagnose a patient.”

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY IN SOUTH AFRICA

Occupational Therapy, often abbreviated OT, is the “use of productive or creative activity in the treatment or rehabilitation of physically, cognitively, or emotionally disabled people”. The use of meaningful occupation to assist people who have difﬁculty in achieving a healthy and balanced lifestyle and to enable an inclusive society so that all people can participate to their potential in daily occupations of life.

DIETETICS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Dietician is an expert in food and nutrition. Dietitians help promote good health through proper eating. They also supervise the preparation and service of food, develop modiﬁed diets, participate in research, and educate individuals and groups on good nutritional habits. The goals of the die- tary department are to obtain, prepare, and serveﬂavorsome, attractive, and nutritious food to pa- tients, family members, and health care providers.

PHYSIOTHERAPY IN SOUTH AFRICA

Physiotherapy is a health care profession which provides services to individuals and populations to develop maintain and restore maximum movement and functional ability throughout the lifespan. This includes providing services in circumstances where movement and function are threatened by aging, injury, disease, or environmental factors.

DENTISTRY/ DENTAL THERAPY IN SOUTH AFRICA

Dentistry is the “evaluation, diagnosis, preven- tion, and/or treatment (non-surgical, surgical, or related procedures) of diseases, disorders, and/or conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and/or the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body”.

EMERGENCY MEDICAL RESCUE SERVICES (EMS) IN SOUTH AFRICA

Emergency Medical Rescue Services (EMRS) is one of the three core functions within the Department of Health, which aims to provide a quality, efﬁ cient, professional and caring emergency medical and rescue service throughout the Province of KwaZulu-Natal.

NURSING IN SOUTH AFRICA

Nursing is a profession focused on assisting individuals, families, and communities in attaining, maintaining and recovering optimal health and functioning. Modern deﬁ nitions of nursing deﬁ ne it as a science and an art that focuses on promoting quality of life as deﬁ ned by persons and families, throughout their life experiences from birth to care at the end of life.

MEDICAL ORTHOTOTICS AND PROSTHETICS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Orthototics and Prosthetics focuses on treatment of people with amputations, paralysis, or other orthopedic or neuro-muscular disabilities. Orthototics is an allied health care medical profession or ﬁ eld that is concerned with the design, development, ﬁtting and manufacturing of orthoses, which are devices that support or correct musculoskeletal deformities and/or abnormalities of the human body.

CLINICAL ASSOCIATE PROGRAMME (Bachelor in Clinical Medical Practice)

The Clinical Associate Programme entails empowering students on how to perform clinical procedures and also to assess and manage important emergency medical conditions encountered in the country’s hospital ward and casualties. During their training, the students spend most of their time in district hospitals and are being placed under a direct or indirect supervision of a qualiﬁed physician.

After completing the BCMP degree, the graduate will be called a Clinical Associate who qualiﬁ es to work as a mid-level health care provider in the setting of a district hospital under the supervision of a qualiﬁ ed physician. They are also allowed to register with the Medical and Dental Board of the Health and Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), after having successfully passed a National Certiﬁ cation Examination. The Clinical Associate in South Africa is equivalent to a Physician Assistant in the United States of America.

Clinical Associates are permitted to provide any medical service delegated to them by the supervising registered medical practitioner if such services are within their scope of practice and also forms a part of the supervising doctor’s scope of practice.

The Clinical Associate’s scope of practice is deﬁ ned by the context and requirements of district hospitals with a particular focus on emergency care, skilled procedures and in-patient care. The medical services which they would provide may include:

•obtaining patient histories and performing physical examinations

•ordering and/or performing diagnostic and therapeutic procedures

•interpreting ﬁ ndings and formulating a diagnostics for common and emergency conditions

•developing and implementing a treatment plan

•monitoring the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions

•assisting at surgery

•offering counselling and education to meet patient needs

•making appropriate referrals.