KWAZULU NATAL

MOSVOLD HOSPITAL
(Ingwavuma)
http://www.kznhealth.gov.za/mosvoldhospital.htm

Mosvold Hospital has approximately 240 beds. There are on average 6 doctors working in the hospital. The wards are: General Female, General Male, TB Ward, Isolation Ward, Maternity and Paediatrics. There is a General Outpatients area where we do our consultations and admitting to the wards. We have 2 operating theatres and recovery area.

Hospital Routine:
Monday:
8:00 Doctors Meeting (Administrative)
8:30 Ward Rounds
10:30 on General Outpatients
Tuesday & Thursday:
7:30 Doctors' problem ward round/teaching.
8:00 Theatre
14:00 Outpatients
Wednesday & Friday:
8:00 Ward Rounds
10:30 Outpatients

In addition, the doctors visit outlying clinics 3 times per week. Mobile nursing teams, the school health team and the AIDS team often go out into the community. Students are encouraged to experience as many different hospital activities as possible. We have a mission plane, situated in Ubombo, called ZUMAT (Zululand Mission Air Transport), which flies the doctors to the clinics every Wednesday, which is a treat. We have regular visits from visiting consultants from Durban who do teaching rounds and see complicated cases with us. We are also trying to institute a "tele-doc" system where we can email complicated cases to specialists with the aid of our digital camera.

Most of the in-patients have diseases like TB, malaria, AIDS, gastroenteritis, abscesses and broken bones. In the outpatient department we deal with anything from colds to snakebites. We try to do most surgery ourselves but refer more complicated problems to a bigger centre.

Getting here:
Ingwavuma is very remote but there is a good tarred road all the way to the hospital. Distances from major towns are: 430km from Durban, 650km from Johannesburg and 300km from Empangeni, which is our nearest big town. We are situated on the Swaziland border (look it up on a map).
You can catch buses from Durban or Johannesburg to Mkuze. The Baz bus offers a friendly, safe service with pickups from the airport and overnight stops at backpackers. Once at Mkuze you can take a local taxi (minibus) to Ingwavuma. Probably you will have to change at Jozini. The hospital is a large complex about 150m from where the taxi stops. It is also worth contacting the hospital near the time of your arrival in case you can catch a lift with someone here.

Accommodation:
You will stay in one of our mobile homes on the hospital property. It is very secure and is fully furnished so you need only bring your personal belongings. We do not have a set fee for the accommodation but we ask for money to pay the cleaning lady and for a donation that we use to buy things for the home that will make for a more pleasurable stay. Generally students in the past have left approximately R100 each (just to give you a rough guideline).

Leisure:
We have a shopping complex here with a supermarket from which you can obtain most basic goods. You should bring things like camera film. There are no facilities for changing money or travellers cheques so you should bring with you any cash that you might need. We have an ATM but it is quite unreliable.

The hospital is set in the Lebombo Mountains, so there are several beautiful walks around and near the village .In summer it is possible to swim in the local dam. Swaziland is within walking distance and is well worth exploring. There are several game parks nearby, as well as the coastal forest, Kosi Bay and Lake Sibhaya. These would need private transport though. Sodwana Bay and Ponta d'Ourro are famous scuba diving sites.

There is a tennis court on the property, a weekly fellowship group and frequent braais and parties. There is always something going on in the bush!

Health:
Although we are not at risk of getting malaria while staying at the hospital due to the fact that we are high up in the mountains, there is a lot in the surrounding areas so if you are planning to travel at weekends it is wise to take prophylactics.

The hospital provides post exposure prophylactic medicines if you by any chance get a needle stick injury.

Local Projects:
Projects that are running in the area include the Ingwavuma Orphan Care run by Dr. Ann Barnard which provides care to orphans around Ingwavuma (as the name implies) and she also runs HIV support groups. There is the Friends of Mosvold project that, among many things, provides bursaries for local students to study at the various universities around the country. In return for financial support they pay back the foundation by working for Mosvold Hospital when they are qualified. This will help ensure that the hospital has staff in an area where there is a drastic shortage of qualified medical personnel. There is also the local Woman's centre which teaches woman various crafts and the products which are made and are of a very high quality are exported and sold to various places around the country.

Language:
The language spoken here is Zulu and most patients are not confident or are unable to speak English. Most of the doctors can speak enough Zulu to not need to have translators sitting with them in their consultations but there are nurses who can lend a helping hand and act as translators.

Miscellaneous:
We have a computer in the doctors office that has access to email which you can use and pay a minimal fee (for telephone costs). We do have medical textbooks, which we use as reference guides to help us. All you really need to bring is your stethoscope and willing hands. There are no limits to what you can learn at Mosvold if you are keen. We encourage active participation in all of our numerous activities.

Prepare to be challenged in many ways! You will meet amazing people and will see things that will give you a new perspective on life in a rural setting, good and sad. I am sure that at the end of your elective period you will view the practice of medicine very differently and you will go home inspired!

Contact:
The Medical Superintendent
Mosvold Hospital
P Bag X2211
Ingwavuma
3968
Phone: 035 5910122
Fax: 035 5910148