Groote Schuur Hospital

Groote Schuur Hospital is one of the most historically significant hospitals in medical history, permanently enshrined as the site of the world first successful human heart transplant, performed by Dr. Christiaan Barnard on December 3, 1967 — a milestone that transformed medicine forever. Affiliated with the University of Cape Town (UCT) Faculty of Health Sciences — consistently Africa top-ranked medical school — Groote Schuur is South Africa premier academic hospital. Located on the slopes of Devil Peak in Observatory, Cape Town, with spectacular views of Table Mountain, Groote Schuur serves as the principal tertiary and quaternary referral centre for the Western Cape province. The hospital is a centre for specialist training, groundbreaking research, and complex clinical care across virtually all medical and surgical specialties. Key specialties include Cardiothoracic Surgery and Transplantation (where heart transplantation was born), Organ Transplantation (kidney, liver, heart), Oncology and Haematology, Neurosciences and Neurosurgery, HIV/AIDS Medicine and Infectious Diseases (UCT is a world leader in HIV/AIDS research), Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery, Nephrology and Renal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Respiratory Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Paediatrics, and Psychiatry. Cape Town is Africa most internationally accessible city, with Cape Town International Airport connecting directly to London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Dubai, and major African hubs. The city offers extraordinary natural beauty — Table Mountain, the Cape Peninsula, vineyards, and beaches — creating an extraordinary setting for medical visitors.