The following tests are available in the practice
Tel: 27 18397 7300
Extension 2126
About Dr AR Ratsela
Specialist Physician
I am a doctor who grew up and studied in South Africa. Growing up in a rural area of the country and later on practicing in the urban areas has taught me a few things about the socio-political challenges facing our patients. As students at the Universities of Natal ( Now called the University of Kwazulu Natal) and the University of the North ( Now called the University of Limpopo) we were exposed to the politics of the time. These politics included the inequalities experienced by the majority of our patients.
After qualifying as a doctor I worked for a short while in the Northwest Hospital since I was a bursary holder of the Bophuthatswana government. It was during this period that I met my mentor, Professor Patrick Mokhobo, an outstanding physician. He did not recruit me by persuasion, but I was just intrigued by how he approached clinical cases. Unsurprisingly, I joined the registrar program at MEDUNSA ( Medical University of Southern Africa ) and later transferred to the WITS program.​
As a newly qualified specialist, I wanted to study Hematology Oncology, but there were no posts for us. This is why most black doctors ended up as general physicians/Internists- the system was tight. I established a specialist practice in Soweto, at the first Private clinic run by black doctors. Those doctors included the likes of the late Dr. Nthato Motlana and Dr. KOP Matseke.
In 2002 I joined the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) as a chief physician and Head of the internal medicine department at 1 military hospital in Pretoria. I had a rank of a full colonel. My administrative responsibilities were extended to cover all the military hospitals in the country. The services lasted for about 10 years and at the end of this period, I was recruited to head the department of internal medicine at the Petersburg -Mankweng Hospital complex.
The departmental heads were tasked with establishing a new medical school in the country. We worked hard to recruit young doctors to study medicine and newly qualified specialists were recruited to come and help.
With the help of innovators such as the late Professor Bongani Mayosi, we managed to send some of the newly qualified specialists to study disciplines such as Nephrology, Neurology, Hematology, and Cardiology. Soon after my appointment as HOD, I was invited to represent my department as an examiner in the Fellowship examinations. This is where I met other heads from the medical schools in the country. This offered an opportunity to recruit more doctors. Most of these doctors who were sent away to study came back to work in the department.
The Department of Medicine grew, and we got an increased number of doctors who applied to join us as registrars. Currently, the department is run by specialists who either were recruited as newly qualified or studied through our program.
I participated in a number of research projects. The three I would like to single out are the following:
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PHIDISA project. This was a research project done by the SANDF and the American DOD, on HIV-positive members.
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INVICTUS: An international and multicenter clinical trial comparing Warfarin and Ribaroxaban in the treatment of patients who have Rheumatic heart disease and atrial fibrillation.
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IMPI 2: A clinical trial to test the performance of interferon in the prevention of constrictive pericarditis in patients with large pericardial effusion after tapping it dry
General Medical Training
MBCHB- University of Natal
Fellowship Training
FCP -Garankuwa & Hillbrow Hospitals
Academic Activities
In 2012 when I was recruited to join the University of Limpopo and the department of health there, I committed to build the academic department of Internal medicine. At the time there was no qualified specialist physician according to the Health professional Council of South Africa. I worked with other members of the University to establish the current Medical school. From my section the first thing was to recruit specialist to work with me, to turn the department into a training section. This was not an easy thing to do since Limpopo is a rural province and very few young specialists want to work there.
After a long struggle the department was registered to train specialists. We started having applicants first from the resident doctors. Our posts were quickly filled and the program was very popular in the province.
When the medical school started and we enrolled our first batch of students the department under my leadership was very active.