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Personal growth in Africa - Dr. Joost van der Hart
While studying toward a medical degree in the Netherlands, Joost Van der Hart often dreamed of working abroad, living in an exciting country, gaining experience with tropical diseases, and generally just working in a more challenging environment.
Having completed his studies in general surgery and gynaecology, Van der Hart came across a training programme which listed a variety of intriguing international work opportunities for health professionals. Having heard positive things about South Africa, and knowing that there was also a desperate need for doctors, he chose to come here. He made contact with AHP, who helped him to secure a year’s contract working at Stanger Hospital in Manguzi.
Van der Hart animatedly describes his time in South Africa as being full of highs and lows, however, overall it proved to be a positive, life-changing experience: “I had a feeling that I could learn and grow more through working in a different country and I feel that I have achieved this and succeeded. Every day that I worked in South Africa was exciting. It taught me something new every day too and my job satisfaction as a result of working in this country was incredibly high. I really felt and believed that I was doing something that served and benefitted the whole healthcare system as well as the people who rely upon it.”
The year, however, was not without its frustrations and challenges, which Van der Hart attributes, in part, to a lack of efficiency: “In terms of the healthcare system in KwaZulu-Natal, I believe that the potential is there and it could be a truly brilliant, world-class system. However, there is so much room for improvement in terms of the bureaucracy, mismanagement of finances and late delivery of equipment and medicine. If they really put their minds to change it for the better the potential is infinite.”
According to Van der Hart, AHP proved to be invaluable in helping him adjust to life in a new country: “AHP provided a brilliant support system for me and they were very accommodating and efficient in terms of helping me with anything I needed. I would recommend their services to any doctors looking to work here.”
Van der Hart thinks that working in South Africa is an opportunity that every doctor should experience, as it afforded him an adventure of sorts that he will treasure for the rest of his life: “I learnt a lot personally – not purely medically – but also about where I am in life and where I want to go from here. I would recommend this to anybody. The overall experience was awesome and it was a great feeling to learn about different cultures.”
Van der Hart has been so impressed with the beauty of South Africa that he plans to travel around Namibia and Botswana over the next few months before returning to the Netherlands to graduate from the Institute of Tropical Medicine. He has also written a manual for doctors in the Netherlands who would like to work in South Africa, explaining how the application process works and encouraging them to work in the country.
