The Tshemba Foundation is a non-profit organisation with a vision of fair and equal healthcare for all people in South Africa’s rural northeast. This unique medical volunteering programme provides the opportunity for healthcare professionals to treat, teach and learn, while also finding refuge in the quiet and beauty of a private game reserve.
Tshemba’s aim is to attract health professionals from a wide range of disciplines, to volunteer their time and expertise for short- or long-term stays. Services include direct patient care, postgraduate support, skills development and formal teaching. We do not take direct responsibility for healthcare delivery but rather add our volunteers to existing services, to support and complement the work of local staff.
While providing a platform for health and allied professionals to give back to under-resourced communities, Tshemba is also a place where like-minded volunteers can exchange ideas, create healthcare solutions for the challenges they experience, and generally connect with peers from around the world.
We recruit both South African and international healthcare professionals, including general practitioners and specialists, as well as allied professionals. Volunteers can contribute to any of the following areas:
Service: Involving direct or indirect patient care.
Some volunteers will be hands-on clinicians, others will be “backroomers” such as pathologists and radiologists.
Teaching: Skills transfer or more theoretical instruction.
From bedside one-on-ones to more formal ward rounds, from guidance on antibiotic use to interpretation of ultrasound results, weekly CPD sessions and more, we offer training to the full range of medical and allied professionals at the hospital and in the clinics.
Management support.
This support ranges from clinical guidance (for example, theatre protocols and equipment audits) to clinical criteria for referral. At the managerial level, this includes advice on, for example, queue management and reduced waiting times.
Transform your leave into a “leave of purpose”
The Tshemba Foundation is taking the idea of a ‘Leave of Absence’ even further and championing for healthcare professionals to take a ‘Leave of Purpose’ instead. Join us for a unique medical volunteering experience, which will not only uplift and support rural healthcare in South Africa, but also help you renew
your love of the healthcare profession.
