- Great rural healthcare placements – We have developed a brand new placement working with a mission hospital about 50 minutes from the house. There are 100 beds in total with 2 doctors, 12 nurses and around 90 outpatients a day, and the hospital can accommodate medical and nursing students. This is a unique opportunity to experience rural health issues, with the top ten cases including malaria, anameia, gynaecological conditions, joint pain, skin, vaginal discharge, hypertension, diabetes (and related illnesses) and gonorrhea. We can offer a 2-4 week placement in a range of departments including general wards, maternity, and surgical.
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HIV leaves many Ghanaian children orphaned
Why Ghana? Ops Manager Rob gives you his top 10 reasons!
Monday, March 26th, 2012
Argentina’s Supreme Court rules for abortion
Friday, March 23rd, 2012
For many years women in Argentina have campaigned for the right to have an abortion, but as a predominantly Catholic country, doctors have only been legally able to perform the procedure on the mentally ill or where a woman’s health is at risk.
Campaigners for abortion rights
Today the Supreme Court decriminalised abortion for all rape victims. The unprecedented move is a huge step for socially conservative Argentina, but a necessary one. The country has uncommonly high levels of unsafe “backstreet” abortions – with over 500,000 illegal abortions carried out each year. They are blamed for causing one in five of maternal deaths and many Work the World students have witnessed the repercussions of a badly performed procedure when the patients are admitted to hospital.
WTW get an insight into MSF
Thursday, March 22nd, 2012
Insight - Friends of MSF Magazine
MSF have published a Work the World two page article in Insight, the Friends of MSF magazine!
The article focuses on preparing for a global health elective, and the benefits and options available to you.
It asks the question – what should you be looking for in an overseas elective, and how you can maximise your time. Crucially it tackles the best way to prepare for a future with an organisation like MSF.
Simon attended the Fo MSF AGM recently and had a great response from students about the potential for group trips and tailored electives. Watch this space to see how the relationship develops!
Mothers day realities – when becoming a mum can kill you.
Thursday, March 22nd, 2012
Mothering Sunday is a day I have always associated with flowers, chocolates and homemade cards… it marks the day I became a mum and is a time for celebration. For many women though, having a baby is not a celebration at all – it’s a death sentence.
Maternity practices are very different
MSF reported today that Mothering Sunday would have seen 1000 women die of maternal complications, most of which were preventable. They have released a report, Maternal Death: The Avoidable Crisis, which shows that women are continuing to die needlessly because they do not have access to the care that they need. 1000 every single day.
The Weekly Question – What can you take to donate to the hospital?
Tuesday, March 20th, 2012
The Weekly Question is back with a bang!
We’re often asked by students “what should I take with me to donate to the hospital?” so we thought who better to answer the question than the students currently on placement!
Students and staff at a teaching hospital Mendoza
Martin, our new Mendoza Assistant Programme Manager, asked students on placement for their suggestions. Dannika Buckley, a fifth year medical student from Nottingham recommended ink for hospital printers and highlighted the need for a computer which allows staff and patients to view x-ray images. Australian student Sarah Freyberg noted that a portable ECG and a computer for research and publications would be useful too. Ok, so the last ones may be a little large for individual donations – it just depends on how successful your fundraising has been!
Kids and bad teeth….. what can we do?
Monday, March 19th, 2012
We are gearing up for our summer Dental Outreach Projects in Nepal, where we treat thousands of school children that have no access to dental care. In a bid to get in the mood, I switched on to watch ITV’s Tonight documentary “Our Kids Rotten Teeth” last week. It made for gripping, and shocking television!
Children as young as 3 or 4 were having surgery to remove 10, 11, 12 or more of their milk teeth because of too much sugar and bad oral hygiene and never visiting a dentist. And that is in this country – where we get reminders to go to the dentist, can easily buy dental aids like toothbrushes, have “flouride varnishing” sessions at school, have flouride added to our water and are regularly told that sweet things are bad for our teeth. It made me think about the realities of young children like those in Nepal, who don’t have the same level of education, have no access to care and no assistance in protecting their milk teeth.
Work the World run yearly Dental Outreach Projects
How to survive as a Physio Student
Friday, March 16th, 2012
Kaitlin is an American student completing her Masters of Physiotherapy degree in Scotland. She will be doing her six-week elective placement in Sri Lanka followed by a tour of Southeast Asia before returning home to America to write her exams. This is Kaitlin’s survival guide for physio students.
Eat breakfast.
Physiotherapy student on placement
Invest in a water bottle. Fill it. Use it.
Why should I do my elective placement abroad?
Thursday, March 15th, 2012
I get asked a lot why I do what I do and go where I go. Most of the time I like to explain my well thought out reasons. I mean, I am a storyteller after all. But here’s what I think of saying first: “Why not?”
Students on placement in Sri Lanka
First of all, the world is ever changing. Be a part of that change.
Hiking in Cordon del Plata Mendoza, Argentina 12
Friday, March 9th, 2012
My penultimate week in Mendoza was a busy one – I had another new housemate, a British girl called Cristina arrived on Monday. She lives in Australia and has just finished her finals. She speaks perfect Spanish as her mum is from Spain, which has been very useful! We tried lots of new restaurants in the city for lunches and dinners, and bonded over an extensive wine tasting session 
Fabulous views of Cordon del Plata
On Saturday we all went for lunch in Lujan with Jose. It was nice to catch up with her as she had stopped working for Work the World due to upcoming exams. After, I went to get a haircut and managed to correctly ask for the style I wanted. I was worried that I would end up with one of the mullets that seem to be so beloved by the Mendocino men!
A new companion :) …Daniel is joined by Christine!
Wednesday, March 7th, 2012
The big news of this week is that I finally have a companion in the house! Her name is Christine and she’s a dentist from Germany. She’s a genuinely lovely person and she speaks amazing English, and we even have sporadic attempts at German.
Christine did an intensive Spanish course this week, also with Work the World, which meant that after morning Spanish lessons she had various activities in the afternoon.
Making empanadas
On Wednesday afternoon she had a cooking lesson with Jesi, making empanadas and alfajores. I have to admit that her empanadas were not the most attractive of the batch, but the filling was very tasty.