This image illustrates many of the reasons a healthcare professional might want to come to work at Madwaleni. 

Firstly it is a beautiful place to live but look more closely at the image and you will see that there are no tarred roads, no electricity or phone lines, there are no latrines, no containers for catching rainwater and no water pumps. 

The traditional Xhosa huts are hand made from mud bricks and inside you will not find any running water or toilets. Although not everyone in the Mbashe-Xhora area lives under these conditions, it is fair to say that this is the way of life for more than 90%.

Many of the implications for the health of the people are self apparent but add on the impact of the HIV/TB pandemic and you will appreciate why it is both a challenging and rewarding environment in which to work.

Joining us will provide you with an opportunity to belong to a multi-disciplinary team of hard working dedicated professionals who passionately believe that each member of our community has an equal right to quality healthcare.  

Madwaleni hospital and its feeder clinics provide a platform for healthcare professionals to hone their clinical skills by seeing a large number of patients with a huge variety of illness. Importantly, despite the poverty and healthcare needs of our community, South Africa is a middle-income country that can provide a level of resources not found in other sub-Saharan African countries.  In addition, we receive funding and other support from a number of Partner organisations.

There is also scope to carry out research in an area that has barely been studied and add to the general understanding of health outcomes in deep rural South Africa.

See "Why Madwaleni is one of the best jobs around" http://www.health-e.co.za/news/article.php?uid=20032621