Life Healthcare hosted a career day at Somerset College, Western Cape for non-fee paying school learners from Nomzamo High School in Somerset, as part of its three-year funding commitment to support the Somerset College Saturday School.

The Saturday School, run by Somerset College, contributes to bridging the education gap within South Africa’s educational system where learners receive mathematics core and literacy lessons in a team-teaching setting for parallel teacher development. The career day contributes to addressing the shortage of medical skills in the country.

“The career day is positioned to empower Nomzamo High School learners with knowledge and information that will further assist them in carving out their future studies and career plans. However, it is also one of the ways in which we can address the shortage of medical skills in South Africa, by encouraging learners to consider a career in the health sector”, says Adam Pyle, Life Healthcare’s Chief Executive Officer – South Africa.

The Saturday School learners heard from a panel of Life Healthcare executives and senior managers about some of the career opportunities in the industry including medicine, nursing, pharmacy, engineering and hospital management.

“As part of our commitment to supporting the Saturday School for the next three years, we believe that empowering learners with knowledge about careers in healthcare will assist them in their career aspirations and motivate them to study hard to be able to enter tertiary studies in these fields.

“South Africa has a dire shortage of nursing skills, and Life Healthcare is committed to addressing this issue through training of nurses at our Life College of Learning, however, nursing is not the only career for learners to consider in the industry. Our country also needs more doctor specialists and hospital pharmacists to be able to ensure quality care is available  to South African citizens”, added Pyle.

He continued to say that hospital management and clinical engineering may not be considered as traditional vocations, but that these fields, as well as legal studies, are some of the other areas that also make a hospital run efficiently. “There are numerous career opportunities in healthcare and if the healthcare sector is to collaborate towards universal healthcare for all South Africans, we need to do our part in preparing future healthcare professionals and leaders to be ready to provide the necessary skills and services”, he said.

Several other career days will be hosted throughout the three-year funding period of the programme which, in 2022, is focused on Matric learners. In 2023 the initiative will include Grade 11 and Matric and in 2024, Grade 10 will be added.

Life Healthcare’s corporate social responsibility and investment programme focuses on health and education initiatives as part of its purpose of making life better for communities and people for the greater good of South Africa.

Anyone considering nursing as a career is encouraged to contact their nearest Life College of Learning centre to enquire about the nursing education programmes being offered, the acceptance criteria and the application process.

Read more about how we are supporting the Saturday School: https://www.lifehealthcare.co.za/news-and-info-hub/latest-news/contributing-to-a-better-education-for-sa-learners/

For more information about Life Healthcare, the careers available and the Life College of Learning visit:  https://www.lifehealthcare.co.za/

For more information on Somerset College’s Saturday School visit: https://www.somersetcollege.org/saturday-school