£700 towards an elective in Ghana!!!

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

The Royal Society of Medicine are offering 2 students £700 towards their elective!

Central Regional Hospital Cape Coast 43 150x150 £700 towards an elective in Ghana!!!

HIV leaves many Ghanaian children orphaned

The Global Health Award is focussed on HIV in communities with severely limited resources, so our placement opportunities in Ghana would be an ideal fit.

The Ghana Aids Commission is working hard to reduce the numbers of infected people, putting aside a budget and encouraging ministries to do the same, but there is an obvious funding gap. Stigma and discrimination are still rife and many people stll hide their HIV status, reducing their chances of obtaining proper treatment. The Government also struggles with the 140,000 + children orphaned by AIDS. Services have been scaled up, but it is estimated that only 7.4% of orphans and vulnerable children have been reached.

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Elective fundraising tips – how to write a press release for newspaper and radio

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

One great way to raise funds for your placement is to increase awareness of your elective in the community in which you live or study. It can lead to huge public interest and in some cases, sponsorship from locals or businesses. The most interesting one we’ve heard so far is a student who managed to get the local amateur dramatic group to donate two nights worth of takings towards his placement!

The best way to get your story to lots of people quickly is to send it to radio stations and newspapers, that way all the publicity is done for you. The problem is that you are one of hundreds of elective students appealing for sponsorship in a pile of millions of potentially newsworthy stories. Why would they pick yours to publish? Well they won’t if you don’t put in a bit of effort and follow the correct procedures! The good news is that we’re here to guide you through the process of dealing with the media and give you the best possible chance of reaching the eyes and ears of your local community.

Who should I approach?

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SCOR winners are announced!

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

The Society of Radiographers has announced the winners of their 2011 competition.

Natasha Kirby and Natasha Jevdet, both diagnostic imaging students, will each receive an international elective placement of up to four weeks to be taken in 2012.

Both winners had to submit an 800-word personal statement, including what they hoped to achieve from the elective placement, what they would give to the host country and the personal qualities that would enable them to deliver this.

Natasha Kirby, currently studying at London South Bank University, wrote of her desire to experience diagnostic radiography in Ghana. She is particularly interested in understanding how poverty, poor sanitation and educational problems are overcome to deliver an effective and safe hospital environment.

As well as looking at how the patient journey from incident to diagnosis and then treatment may vary from a cultural perspective, Natasha would also be interested to explore the use of traditional healing alongside medical approaches.

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The weekly question – how are you finding the language lessons?

Saturday, December 31st, 2011

Every week we provide you with free language lessons in each of the Work the World houses which help you communicate with patients and locals (most doctors speak English), and a paid for intensive course in Argentina that aims to improve your basic skills to a level in which you can understand and work in a wholly Spanish speaking environment. This week we asked the students how they were getting on with these lessons.

In Arusha, Steph told us that “The Swahili lessons have been good so far. We started with greetings which have been helpful and we tend to practice it around the house a bit. Knowing the basics is really helpful in town and on placement” Rachel added “We’re learning lots of useful words and phrases for hospital and around town. And there are loads of chances to practice as everyone is so friendly and talks to you”

Lucy thinks that “The lessons are very well selected and really useful. We like the songs and he has a good manner with his students. There are plenty of chances to practice around town and people are impressed by our Swahili – everyone wants to talk to the Mzungus!”

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The top 10…. Christmas presents for healthcare elective students

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

Your elective might not be for a few months, but Christmas is the perfect time to ask family and friends for some presents that will really help you get prepared. Here is our top 10 ideas for your Christmas present list….

  1. Donate to my elective! If you want to go on an elective, and monies are tight, this is the perfect chance to target family and friends for a helping hand. Tell them to send us a cheque or transfer the money to us, making sure they note your reference number and name on it.
  2. Pens and toys for the kids - Lots of our students like to spend their afternoons working at orphanages in the cities. The kids LOVE any toys or gifts that you can give them.
  3. 1450 undercover secret laptop sleeve 150x150 The top 10.... Christmas presents for healthcare elective students

    Who would steal an old envelope?!

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The Weekly Question – How did you raise funds for your overseas placement?”

Monday, December 5th, 2011

We have written quite a few blogs recently about how to raise funds for your placement, and we can see from the number of hits that this is a subject is close to your hearts. To give you fresh perspective, we decided to ask our current students this week about how they managed to save for their placements.

Alex, who has just returned from her placement in Pokhara, Nepal, said: “When applying for some financial support towards my trip I drafted out a letter which I sent to 28 different companies asking for support. I also wrote to my local paper who agreed to cover the story, and that attracted some interest. I applied for different local grants through the council and through my university and also worked at my local supermarket at the weekend, which helped me raise some money. My local amateur dramatic group also took interest in me and hosted two plays over two nights to which both nights sold out. The two nights alone with the help of a lot of people raised me £2000!

pills2 150x150 The Weekly Question How did you raise funds for your overseas placement?”

Clinical trials worked for Matt. Image from freeimages.co.uk

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How to apply for a visa for your healthcare elective

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

Applying for visas can seem like a daunting process.  Different countries have different rules and buried within the embassy websites are procedures that seem to contradict themselves at every turn. There are endless paperwork requests, supporting letters….. it’s a nightmare!

Picture 3 150x150 How to apply for a visa for your healthcare elective

My Trip

We keep up to date on all of our destination visa requirements, and in an ideal world we would include the cost of your visa in our placement fees, arranging the whole thing on your behalf. The problem is that rules and regulations change so quickly that if we included the cost of a visa based on todays prices, by the time it came to apply we would no doubt be out of pocket or would have overcharged. The best, and most cost effective way of you getting the right visa, is to apply directly.

Before you get into a panic about getting the wrong stamp in your passport, rest assured that we are not about to leave you to navigate the process alone. Our “visa gurus”, Nicole and Chris, make sure that you have all the help you need; speaking to the different embassies, monitoring updates and keeping a general check on each country to make sure we have the most up to date information on what is needed. Nic and Chris make sure guidelines for application are provided on your MyTrip page, as well as any supporting material. This could include anything from a hospital confirmation letter, an outline of your trip or an invitation document to the country – everything you need is on MyTrip ready for download. You even get a reminder to get on the case and start applying!

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Split placements – is it worth signing up for one?

Monday, November 21st, 2011

There is no doubting that a placement in a developing country hospital can contribute enormously to both your degree and chosen career. Working with professionals in another country gives you the opportunity to experience how healthcare is delivered in an under-resourced environment, understand more about developing country diseases – some of which you may have only read about in text books –  and use and gain new skills treating advanced pathologies.

As you will know from the rotations you have completed in different departments and hospitals, no two wards or supervisors are the same. This is even more defined in a developing country where resources are dramatically decreased. To give students the opportunity to broaden their experience overseas,  Work the World recommend splitting your placement and working in different wards or hospitals within one or several of our destinations.

We get lots of questions about the benefits, cost and necessity of split placements, so this blog is designed to answer those questions. and help you make a decision as to whether a split placement is an option for you. (more…)

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Money off your placement….. an early Christmas present!!!!

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

*** Reduce the cost of your placement by £100′s!!!***

Lottie Boyer Zanzibar Full moon pyramid 150x150 Money off your placement..... an early Christmas present!!!!

How many friends can you find?

Work the World are offering £50 for every person you refer from now until Christmas – that’s 50% more than our standard referral fee!

The great news is that it is also limitless – find one friend and you get £50, but get 10 to sign up and you could earn a massive £500 off of your placement balance!

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The benefits of doing your elective abroad:

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

So why go abroad? It’s probably far easier and convenient let’s face it to stay put. However if your after something a little more exciting than ‘easy’ or ‘convenient’ then look no further. This is why you SHOULD do your elective abroad:

zoe bishop mwanza victoria shardlow assisting in a fracture neck of femur repair in the orthopedic theatre in bugando 150x150 The benefits of doing your elective abroad:

A fellow student in surgery

For pretty much most of your healthcare course, you would have had all or nearly all your clinical experience in the UK…so what better opportunity than to go somewhere new and experience a completely new and exciting environment.

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