24 HOURS Emergency Unit Landline: 011 593 4488 or 011 593 4490 | Switchboard: 011 593 4477
24 HOURS Emergency Unit Landline: 011 593 4488 or 011 593 4490 | Switchboard: 011 593 4477
Khabi Honwana on her visit to Johannesburg Surgical Hospital
The vision behind the Johannesburg Surgical Hospital was always one for the future, the future of healthcare and the future of medical training. When the journey began, and the vision started taking shape the plan was always to include a medical school that will turn out some of the world’s leading surgeons and medical practitioners who will be trained by leaders in healthcare who have chosen to remain here on South African soil; and to build the legacy of JSH. To inspire the future leaders of medical practice, starting right here at home.
Now that JSH is up and running at full steam ahead, so are the training programmes for young medical students and graduates. The team at JSH are living up to their promises. Only ten months after the official and grand opening of the hospital in September 2023, the school bell has rung for the doctors, nurses, surgeons and radiologists of the future.
Khabi Honwana is one of these students, a young woman who at one time may have only dreamt of having the opportunity to become a doctor is now one who not only has this opportunity but is also living her dream. “I always knew that I wanted to have an impact on people’s lives. I just didn’t know how. But as I grew older, I realised that I want to actually save lives. Everyone deserves to have access to healthcare; everyone deserves another chance to live. That’s what truly inspired me to study medicine.” Khabi shares what sparked her desire to study medicine.
She goes on to tell us how as a future medical graduate in South Africa there is a main concern that lies in the “grey area” that all medical students are worried about. “I think we’re all in this big bubble, a big question mark. Do we continue what we’ve started in our country, or do we follow our own dreams, visions and goals we’ve set out since we were young? That is one of the big questions we have; what does our future hold?” Although she is young, Khabi understands that the vision that New South Africa was always one of inclusion, diversity, and to become a world-class nation. To play our part not only in the world, but most importantly here at home. To unite South Africans and to empower them with education, training and the best healthcare the world has to offer.
Currently a fourth-year student at The University of the Witwatersrand’s medical school, Khabi now has the opportunity to extend her hands-on training, not only under the guidance and mentorship of the leading medical practitioners that the JSH is known for, but also with the help of the state-of-the art technology that makes up this first-class medical facility.
“I feel that JSH has really provided that reassurance that our dreams, goals and visions are still valid. It’s possible, it’s really possible. It’s really possible in our country and it’s really possible here at JSH too.” Khabi goes on to tell us more about her time at JSH; how it has opened up her exposure to different facets of medical science. For a student who spends most of her time in the clinical space, Khabi is now being exposed to radiology on a level that only JSH can provide. “Just being around the Da Vinci Robot; I have never been around such advanced technology.”
Not only has Khabi been inspired to continue her journey towards practising medicine and finishing her medical training by the technology found within the walls of the JSH; she has also been inspired by the staff and senior medical practitioners and trainers who have welcomed her and fellow students into their programmes.
The technology at JSH never ceases to amaze. The health, surgical, and medical care the hospital has been providing to patients since it opened its doors continues to fulfil its destiny; to bring the vision to life in reality. Most importantly, the JSH never ceases to inspire, not only young medical students, but well-seasoned medical practitioners and patients too.
We are all reassured and feel a sense of calm knowing that the JSH, its staff, world-class medical care and technology, and hands-on approach is just on our doorstep. In the past when we imagined the future of healthcare to be a future in which anything is possible; a future in which cure, remission and better health is a reality, it was only something we imagined. It seemed like a dream so far out of reach that we may never see it in our lifetime. Bu the team behind JSH set out to change that narrative. They set out to rewrite the future, to place the power to ultimate health and longevity back in our hands; the power to live with hope and a future to look forward to.
This is how the JSH continues to inspire the future. The journey is only beginning, and the best is still yet to come as the team continues to work together to bring life to a vision that becomes more and more possible every single day. We look forward to seeing what else the JSH has coming. We look forward to more inspiration, and we look forward to a future with the best healthcare the world can offer.