Over the past 66 years SHAWCO Health has developed a reputation of quality clinical services in under-resourced communities. The dedicated committees made up of health science students in all years of study, as well as committed student volunteers and volunteer doctors, ensure that these services continue to be delivered.
SHAWCO Health co-ordinates 6 clinics which operate at night on a weekly basis and a 7th Paediatric Wellness Clinic on Saturday mornings (monthly), in various Cape Town communities . These clinics often serve as the only port-of-call for community members who work during the day, or who cannot make the trip to the neighbouring Day Hospital. The clinics either operate from permanent Health Facilities or from SHAWCO Health’s two, fully-equipped Mobile Clinics.
During clinics, patients are seen by medical students under the supervision of a qualified volunteer doctor who oversees the proceedings, verifies diagnoses and provides advice. Clinical year students are responsible for clerking, examination and treatment of the patients, while also guiding and teaching pre-clinical students who observe, examine patients under guidance and complete admission forms.
In 2006, physiotherapy students began volunteering at some of the clinics, beginning the much-needed holistic health care model which SHAWCO aims to provide. In 2008, SHAWCO saw its first full Health & Rehabilitation service come into reality, with Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Audiology and Speech Pathology services being offered at our Monday night Simthandile clinic (in Khayelitsha). At this clinic, another pilot project has seen sign language interpretation being offered to members of Cape Town's deaf community - a project we hope will see real growth as the news spreads. SHAWCO also works in partnership with WREMS (Waiting Room Education by Medical Students) which provides health promotion services on SHAWCO clinics. In 2009, we hope to extend our clinic services by offereing VCT (HIV counselling and testing) through partnerships with the Tutu Tester and Lifechoices who will bring their own mobile clinics to run these services.
Students work very closely with community health workers within the community. These community health workers contribute to decisions made concerning the various clinics and help educate patients around specific health issues.
SHAWCO’s 6 clinics are run in the evenings at the following sites weekly:
Monday: Newrest (in Gugulethu) and the Golda Selzer CHC (in Khayelitsha)
Tuesday: Masiphumelele (Noordhoek) and Brown’s Farm (in Nyanga)
Wednesday: Joe Slovo (Milnerton) and Zibonele (in Khayelitsha).
The seventh clinic, with a specific Paediatric focus, is run from Imizamo Yethu (an informal settlement in Hout Bay) once a month.
The buses transporting students to the clinics leave at 17h45 and return once all the patients at the clinic have been attended to – approximately 22h30, sometimes as late as 01h00.
In 2008, around 500 students offered clinics to over 4200 people in the communities we serve.
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