Opportunities outside private practice before 1860

This chapter discusses the restrictions and opportunities which salaried employment offered Cape doctors in the pay of government and charitable organisations during the first two thirds of the nineteenth century. Although Cape doctors often acted as agents of the colonial state there were many nuances within this relationship. While military doctors played an important role in the profession during the first few decades of the century, by the 1840s civilian doctors were beginning to assert greater influence in Cape Town, if not yet in the Eastern Cape. Hospital posts and an expanding network of charitable organisations and government-funded district surgeoncies provided part-time employment for some doctors throughout the colony. This helped urban-based doctors to sustain practices and encouraged more doctors to practice in the smaller country towns serving large farming areas.