Medicine
“Our medical programmes give you the unparalleled opportunity to gain experience in medicine in a different country. You will spend time shadowing doctors, nurses and other health care professionals on ward rounds and may have the opportunity to spend more time in specific departments that you’re interested in such as theatre, A and E, paediatrics and more, if your time with us permits.
The practice of medicine in foreign countries is starkly different to our own. In poorer countries, medical care is expensive and often patients can’t afford treatments. You may witness a doctor trying to establish the extent of injuries sustained in an accident when the patient can’t afford x-rays, or gain experience in diseases such a polio as patients can’t afford the inoculations. You will also witness the treatment of tropical and infectious diseases we just don’t see, such as malaria, typhoid or bilharzia.”
Medical projects can be combined with teaching, work in an orphanage or any of our other projects.
They can be done as part of a gap year or during the summer holidays.
Our medical work experience placements in Ghana are based in hospitals and clinics in Cape Coast and Takoradi. We deliberately choose regional hospitals in towns rather than small rural clinics so that you can gain experience in a broad range of departments during your time with us.
Our medical placements in India are based at 2 large modern hospitals in Trivandrum, one being a medical college and a number of smaller specialist clinics. We have chosen these hospitals because it gives you the opportunity to spend time in a variety of different departments and gain experience in a number of medical fields.
Many of the hospitals we work with are part of the Red Cross or Green Cross organisations. Unlike in the UK, medical provision in Mexico is not free. These organisations provide hospital and medical services to those who are unable to afford it.
The medical projects in Tanzania are based in the second largest hospital in Arusha in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro! The hospital acts as a referral hospital to other health facilities in Arusha and Manyara regions so the cases you will see will be varied.
Medical practice in China isn’t divided into conventional practices and the ‘alternative’ or ‘complimentary’. What makes medical work experience in China so unique is that traditional forms of Chinese medicine are combined with more conventional western techniques and a more holistic approach to patient care and health is adopted.