During their internship, health care students are asked to submit their top five preferred districts for community service placement to the National Department of Health. The National Department of Health then assigns students a community service posting, usually within these top five choices.

Completion of community service is a requirement for health care workers wishing to practice in South Africa

In her latest blog, our rural doctor gives next year’s community service health workers her top 10 reasons to chose rural districts in this week’s post.

1 . You will love it. Not immediately, and definitely not consistently, but undeniably. Rural medicine is unique in many ways, and experiences will no doubt differ from one institution to the next but the unifying factor, is that it is more gratifying, more challenging and more inspiring than anything you would’ve experienced during your internship.

2. You will go on great adventures in parts of our wonderful country that you may have otherwise never explored. For me, these have included music festivals in Swaziland, lunches in Maputo, game drives through Kruger National Park and weekend trips to the north coast. For you it may be hikes in Cederberg, wine-tasting in the Overberg or surf trips up the West Coast.

[quote float=”right”]“At rural hospitals, you will likely be running your own ward, and with a little perseverance you can literally make the changes you want to see.”

3. You will have more time on your hands than during internship. Even the poorly staffed rural hospitals usually make use of sessional doctors to cover weekends and nightshifts. This means, less overtime and more free time for you. You will seldom go a night without at least two hours of sleep.

4. You can use your free time to start studying for primaries, or indulge in other interests you may have. For me, this has been public health and writing, for you it may be surgery, infectious disease, Law or even English literature.

5. You will meet people from all around the world and they will become your lifelong friends. Many rural hospitals in South Africa are staffed with foreign doctors through African Health Placements and other nongovernmental organisations.

These young doctors give a year or more of their lives to work in Africa, and are – in my experience at least – superb human beings. I am honored to have them as my friends. They are kind, caring, enthusiastic and full of life. You will learn from them too, not only about different countries and cultures, but also different ways of practicing the same art.

6. You will appreciate your skills. You won’t be supervised as much as you would like but you will learn a lot from this. Having to make your own decisions is daunting, but it is also very rewarding, especially when you start making the right decisions and seeing the positive results. In time you will realise that, despite what you may think, your training is on a par with global standards, and this will give you a great deal of self-confidence.

7. The pay is good and living costs are low. You will receive a minimum of 18 and maximum or 22 percent increase on your salary for practicing medicine in a remote area. If you live in doctors’ quarters, rent is R900 a month, amenities included. You can walk to work, so petrol or transport expenses are kept to a minimum. This allows you to put aside some savings for travel, family or dreams.

[quote float=”left”]“ You will get to know your patients and their families, and see the difference you make in their lives. I can’t think of anything that is more satisfying than this”

8. You can be an agent of change. Remember all those things that used to frustrate you about internship – stock that was never available, incompetent nurses, useless protocols? At rural hospitals, you will likely be running your own ward, and with a little perseverance you can literally make the changes you want to see.

9. You will immerse yourself in the community that you are serving. People will recognise you at the Shoprite, or let you jump the queue for the ATM. You will get to know your patients and their families, and see the difference you make in their lives. I can’t think of anything that is more satisfying than this.

Your home, be it Johannesburg or Cape Town or Pretoria, won’t disappear. In fact, it won’t change much at all while you are gone. Instead, you will be the one that is changing, and when you return for weekends or short breaks from time to time, you will revel in the comforts of home. You will appreciate the things you took for granted: running water, 24-hour-Woolworths and medium-rare steak.

10. If you don’t do this now, you probably never will. Many of my peers in other professions would give an arm and a leg to have more flexibility in where they work. The investment bankers and consultants are restricted to Johannesburg. Civil servants in Pretoria. Advertisers and film-makers in Cape Town.You can work in just about any tiny corner of this beautiful country! It’s easier than you think. Do it, you will love it!

Read more from our rural blogger here