Community Service: Surgery

Dr Harry Surtie Hospital

Welcome to the Department of Surgery at Dr Harry Surtie Hospital, Upington, Northern Cape. We
look forward to getting to know you and to work with you during your rotation. Although Surgery
may seem daunting, it is a very rewarding profession and we encourage you to embrace this
challenge as a learning experience. We hope to instil a sense of confidence in your clinical
judgement while adding to your medical knowledge. Know that you will not be left alone to struggle
for yourself, and that advice and support is always available to you.
Dr Harry Surtie is a secondary hospital and we have a very large drainage area from the majority
of the province. The services that we provide include:
SOPD: 3 days a week, Tuesday - Thursday (in the process of making SOPD on Tuesdays and
Thursdays only)
Elective surgery: Monday - 1 list, Wednesday - 2 lists
Minor Day-case surgery: Friday
Scopes: Tuesdays
We have a 30 bed unit and are responsible for surgical patients in ICU, Paediatrics and Short Stay
ward.
As a community service medical officer, you are no longer an intern. You will have more clinical
freedom but know that the rest of the team is always available to guide and help you. Our
department has a strong emphasis on academics and evidence-based medicine. Remember that
your input is tremendously valuable.
Every Monday at 3pm, we have a Surgical Morbidity and Mortality Meeting in the Doctors room in
the ward, where we will discuss the weeks cases.
On Tuesdays at 8am, there is an Inter-departmental M&M held in the Auditorium, where we will
present our statistics and present a case for academic purposes. Cosmos will rotate taking
responsibility of presenting this meeting.
On Thursdays at 2pm, we will have academic discussions, where we invite all the doctors from the
hospital and discuss a previously determined topic that is announced in the Tuesday M&M
meeting. Cosmos will rotate taking responsibility of this meeting.
On Fridays, we have a grand ward round starting at 8am in ICU, should we have patients there.
This is an academic ward round. Questions will be asked about the principles and practices of
surgery regarding our patients. This is not to test you, but to further improve your knowledge.
There are no stupid questions and it is a very valuable learning experience.
The call roster will be made available by the beginning of the last week of the month. Should you
have any requests for the following month, please submit them to Dr Tshimpaka beforehand.
During the calls, you will be the first attending doctor from the department. The casualty officer will
see the patient first and will refer the patient to you after stabilising them. You will also be referred
patients from the periphery.
Each week you will be assigned to either SOPD + ICU + Paediatrics + Short stay, to the ward and
to theatre along with a senior. The doctor responsible for the clinic during the week will also do the
minor day-case surgery in the clinic on Fridays.
We look forward to meeting you and to you becoming a critical part of our team.
Department of Surgery
Dr Harry Surtie Hospital