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Hospital:

Zomba Central Hospital is a referral hospital that services Zomba District (population about 650,000) including about 30 Health Centres and 3 other Hospitals (Army, Police, and St. Luke's Mission Hospitals).

Country:

Malawi is a beautiful, peaceful, country.

Position:

Physician

Medical Experience:

Depends on interests / focus. Wide range available in all aspects of hospital medicine.

Hospital Facilities:

Lab including Malaria smears, TB microscopy, Full Blood Count (sometimes), Haemoglobin (usually), CSF analysis, HIV / Hep B / Transfusion screening, X-ray, some ultrasound.

Major duties:

I was mainly responsible for HIV related programs including HIV/ARV clinic, inpatient care on TB, Medical, and Pediatric wards.

Working hours:

Varied

Accommodation:

I lived in a house provided by NGO I was working for. Accomdation at Nursing School dormitory commonly used.

Food:

Can be accessed from Nursing School, or prepared from local shopping.

Phone/Internet access:

Internet cafe, no access from hospital consistently.

Hospital staff:

When I left Hospital Director (Malawian), Internist / General Surgeon / 2 Obs/Gyn (German), HIV Physician (Zambian)

Language:

Can communicate easily with staff in English, with patients Chichewa essential

Town facilities:

Town home to 2 army barracks, central prison, police college, Chancellor College (University of Malawi). Several grocery stores, active market.

Getting there:

Easiest from Blantyre (1.5 hours), or Lilongwe (4-5 hours) by bus

Travel:

Endless really. Locally the Zomba Plateau and Liwonde National Park easily accessible.