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>> We really need a doctor here!
I don't mind if it is a South African or what, as long as it is a doctor.
>> The problem with Canzibe is that there's few doctors.
So when I first arrived here, it was kind of a big mess.
Patients who were in the wards hadn't been seen for months by a doctor.
I had patients who were admitted for like 6 months in TB ward, who hadn't been seen because they was no doctor available to see them.
You feel very sad. You feel sad, but you also feel energised because you know
that I'm here now, and I can mean something for these patients.
So it is a mixed feeling.
We need doctors. The patients are sick, and we need doctors to come
and cure the patients, but also to train the nurses.
>> I came to Canzibe with the expectations of learning.
Initially I didn't think I was getting that, but I think with Dr. Melleson arriving here
then I started doing ward rounds with her.
I started being around her and stuff, so Dr. Melleson taught me quite a lot.
No hospital could function without a doctor.
And at this point Canzibe Hospital has only got foreign doctors.
I think they are the core of the hospital because it wouldn't be a hospital anymore without them.
>> Foreign-qualified doctors are a critical piece of the puzzle at the moment.
Without the support of Atlantic Philanthropies it wouldn't be possible to focus our activities
and target certain areas, especially in human resources and health in South Africa.
Part of a good placement is definitely transference of skills.
A good skills mix will allow foreign-qualified doctors to impart skills
especially to other doctors, but also nursing staff.
They're so determined when they get out here, and it's contagious
and that kind of spirit lasts long after they leave.
>> In Holy Cross I used to run the *** clinic, so I worked a lot with the head nurse there.
And she learned a lot from me, and she's running the whole unit now on her own
because also Holy Cross has difficulties with getting doctors and there's no doctor now to run the *** clinic.
And the funny thing is now when she meets other nurses, in meetings, about *** and treatment,
she tells those nurses what they should do.
I got a text message a few weeks ago
from a patient who said to me, "Doc I want to thank you, because I was almost dead.
And now I'm fine and my baby is fine. Thank you."