Aurel Emilian Mircea / M.D. German Healer

Healthcare Under Apartheid
1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9858693-5-9
Verlag: Book Baby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 281 Seiten

This novel brings to light the South African medical brotherhood that developed among physicians from all over the world. At the peak of the Apartheid's universal healthcare coverage, they had to undergo a crash course in traumatology, obstetrics and orthopedics resulting in many saved lives. Bound by the Hippocratic Oath, the doctors gave their best professional skills to everyone, anytime, anywhere while on duty and off duty. They cared equally well for the Bantu majority, European white minority and the Indian, Asians and Colored people. Despite many limited personal freedoms inscribed into the law of the land, the medical brotherhood enjoyed access to the most advanced medical technology. Attracted by its wonderful climate and great individual prosperity, doctors from all over the world immigrated to South Africa. There, they have found unique opportunities to enhance their practical knowledge, in the shortest period, unlike anywhere else in the world. Subsequently, the evolving medical brotherhood enjoyed a great professional success and an equivalently rewarding income. This novel is homage to the doctors from Far East Rand Hospital in Springs, Transvaal. Hard work and sleepless nights did not prevent them from healing their critically ill black or white patients. When the political turmoil in the region hit a new peak, the medical brotherhood supported each other all the way in the relocation to the USA and other British Commonwealth countries. All they have left behind were great memories and unique African experiences, never mentioned in any medical textbooks, nor encountered anywhere else on Earth.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Aurel Emilian Mircea, M. D.

M.D.,

Leseproben

Chapter 1 Hello Africa! At lunchtime, the doctors’ cafeteria served a healthy meal made of Viennese schnitzel and baked potatoes, sprinkled with fresh parsley. The small group of young physicians, seated at the tables around ate in a hurry and started to chat about the latest news. At the University Medical Center in Hamburg-Eppendorf, the grapevine was on fire with international opportunities for the newly graduated residents in surgery and internal medicine. The most exciting place to start a new career seemed to be the land of the Boers, far away beyond the African Equator, in the tropical paradise of South Africa. There, the provincial administrators of Transvaal, Natal and Cape Provinces had widely opened the door for new applicants. Apparently, due to the severe shortage of doctors in government hospitals, the Apartheid government reluctantly approved the temporary importation of medical brains from all over the free world. “What a great chance, my buddies!” Dr. Koch said. “Instead of making 1,000 Deutsche Marks per month as hospital intern, I’ll receive double that. I’ll be working for the Transvaal Provincial Hospital Administration, alias the TPHA, a huge network of government hospitals in the Highveld of the Republic of South Africa.” “Have you contacted their consulate in Bonn?” Dr. Fritz asked. “Yes and the secretary gave me an appointment with the consul a week from today.” “Lucky you,” Dr. Schultz entered the conversation. “Isn’t you wife ready to deliver soon?” “Well, by the time my application will be approved in Pretoria and I’m ready to pack and go, I’ll be a father. What about you?” “I’ll stay here and struggle with the cold winters, high taxes and daily commutes,” Dr. Schultz replied. “I’m a sucker for punishment. I have a small family to feed and I don’t feel like uprooting to travel across the globe to test the old British, colonial lifestyle.” “I personally will join you in a minute,” Dr. Fritz said. “But, I’m having specific plans for specialization in gynecology and I cannot interrupt my training for a few years of elephant hunting and tropical diseases.” “I would like to make a confession,” Dr. Koch continued the lunch rally. “My most revered German physician is my namesake, Dr. Robert Koch, the Nobel Prize winner and the discoverer of the tuberculosis bacillus.” “Are you implying some famous ancestry?” Dr. Schulz asked. “It’s a simple coincidence, but I’m striving to become a German Healer, just like him. He went to Africa to help with the typhoid epidemics. Walking into his footsteps, I would also like to be remembered as a Good Samaritan.” “You’ll have a long road from Cape Town to Oslo for your Nobel Prize,” Dr. Fritz quipped, looking his colleague in the eye. “We can sit here the whole day telling anecdotes, my friends,” Dr. Koch said. “All I can say is that in that part of the world, the German doctors made a positive impact over the last century. I would like to do my share and continue with the good medical tradition.” Later that evening, Dr. Koch returned to his modest apartment in Bundesstrasse district, not too far from the busiest international port in Northern Europe. His wife of two years, Gretchen, greeted him with a big kiss and handed him an envelope from the South African diplomatic mission in Bonn. Impatiently, the young German doctor, fluent in English by then, opened it and read the introductory note. Then, smiling from ear to ear, he continued to browse through a bunch of additional documents included and an application form to become a junior medical officer within the Transvaal Provincial Hospital Administration, known as TPHA. All this time his loving wife, displaying a large pregnant belly and breathing fast, stood next to him with an inquisitive expression on her face. “Now, stop tormenting me and translate it right now…” “Our dreams have come true, my dear. The offer is a three-year-long contract with double my present salary. This is a winning lottery ticket to a tropical paradise, offering us free accommodation and a first-class, one-way ticket to Johannesburg!” At the sound of the great news, Gretchen jumped up with joy and did a few pirouettes landing in Dr. Koch’s arms. “If I wasn’t so far gone into my pregnancy, I would’ve opened a bottle of pear schnapps and drink it all in celebration!” “It’s my first big professional victory! To celebrate it the right way, when the baby girl is born we shall name her Victoria and if it’s a boy Victor!” “I fully agree my dear husband. When is your audience with the South African diplomat to sign the contract and apply for our immigrant visas?” “Next week, sweet heart I’ll travel to the South African Embassy in Bonn. I hate to leave you alone, but a two hundred mile train journey in one day, will be too stressful for you and our unborn baby. I’ll be back the same day.” *** In the express train to Bonn, Dr. Koch took a seat at the window in the second-class compartment daydreaming over the new chance in his medical career. The person in charge of the doctors’ recruitment at the TPHA in Pretoria had guaranteed him everything, including local transportation. All hospitals had two sections, one for the white minority of Europeans and the other one, a few miles apart, for the black majority of the Bantu population. From his previous readings, the young physician understood very well that he would have to adjust to the Apartheid’s, discriminatory regime. All the healthcare facilities in South Africa had a dual system based on racial segregation, but the same appointed superintended to run them from the management point of view. Most were within the same municipality districts, serving all races with the same team of doctors and nurses. However, he did not have a clue as to the degree of advancement in the technology, nor the availability of specific medical equipment. However, he knew that South Africa was part of the developed world and had everything a civilized country needed, beginning with its gold mines and ending with many sprawling medical centers in all the major cities. From the natural resources point of view, that ex-British colony produced most of the world’s strategic minerals and precious metals. Some experts have estimated their value to be in the trillions of Deutsche Marks and totaling eighty percent of the annual, global output. To top it off, Johannesburg was the only city in the whole of the African continent to host a fully-fledged, actively trading financial Stock Exchange. The country had a healthy economy, an exchangeable hard currency known as the Rand and a banking system backed my huge reserves of gold. In addition, the strong economic ties with the rest of nations within the British Commonwealth made the country an international powerhouse. Personally, Dr. Koch did not give a hoot about the political aspects of the Apartheid and the pervasive sanctions, the United Nation imposed upon the government in Pretoria. All he really wanted was a break from the high taxes. Bad political news, at the peak of the Cold War flooded him daily in West Germany and particularly in Hamburg. The time was long overdue for a drastic change in the lifestyle. He badly wanted to leave the torment of a divided German nation behind him, in exchange for a new life in the subtropical paradise of South Africa. That is why he learned English earlier in the high school and pursued a variety of license examinations to qualify for the new world. He had received working permits for the six British Commonwealth countries, which included the dominions of Canada, Newfoundland, South Africa, Australia and New Zeeland. In addition, he held extoling references from two top professors at the medical school, undoubtedly boosting his credentials and his chances of employment as a junior medical officer. A short taxi ride from the railroad station in Bonn, to the South African embassy and in a half hour the young German physician found himself in front of Mr. Van der Merwe, the Consul General. The interview went very well; the young diplomat checked the application form and gave his secretary instruction to forward the package to Pretoria by a special diplomatic courier. “How long do I have to wait for a definite reply?” Dr. Koch asked. “About three months, top! We’re now at the October Fest time, I believe by the first week of January you should receive your visa, work permit and a first-class ticket with SAA, South African Airlines.” “What about our newborn, which we expect in the next couple of weeks?” “A baby that size will be considered hand luggage,” the consul giggled. “All you need is to show the pilot the birth certificate and he or she will fly free of charge…” “I’m so grateful, sir. Can I offer your secretary a small present, as a token of my sincere appreciation for her personalized services?” “Sure, she loves red roses and dark chocolates!” Before he called a taxi to take him to the railroad station, Dr. Koch ran like an Olympic...