Medical elective placements in Argentina, South America

For those that can afford private healthcare, a relatively high standard of care can be obtained. State workers and those without insurance face the other end of the scale, where a lack of facilities and busy wards are reminiscent of developing countries in Africa and Asia. It helps to have a basic level of Spanish to communicate with patients and medical staff, something we can help you with. For those wanting to improve their Spanish or learn the basics there is a great chance to see real diversity in patient care.

Government hospital - Mendoza's Government regional hospital serves a huge cross section of society, particularly those with no state or private insurance, and is consequently very busy. There is scope to work in Traumatology, Orthopaedics, Plastic Surgery and Burns, Dermatology, Obstetrics, Gynaecology, Oncology, Anaesthetics, General Medicine, Critical Care and Emergency. There is also a specialist paediatric hospital with busy Outpatients, Paediatric Surgery and Emergency departments.

Paediatric hospital - Being a tertiary referral hospital, students undertaking placements here will see a wide range of cases and treatments – especially rare and critical conditions. The hospital is known for hosting a wide range of medical and surgical specialties for paediatrics, including Intermediate Intensive Care Unit, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Oncoloy, Cardiology and eight theatres. Patients are referred here from all over central and western regions of Argentina, predominantly aged between neonates to 14 years old.

Community healthcare centres - Mendoza is our only programme which offers a structured community placement. As part of their role, city doctors rotate in healthcare centres in the suburbs. These "family doctors" provide primary healthcare as well as specialist consultations and tend to be more involved in the socio-economic aspects of a patients life. Part of their role is also to provide lectures highlighting specific illnesses or disease. This is a great elective for anyone interested in working within a general practice.

Don't forget - if your preferred speciality is not listed, give us a call as we can usually accommodate most requests. You could also think about other opportunities to make more of your elective:

Split placements - If you have four weeks or more, it is worth thinking about splitting an elective in Argentina. The Government regional hospital, paediatric hospital and community healthcare centres offer very different placements and splitting your time between two of them will give you a much better picture of how Argentinean healthcare is delivered to the general population.

Intensive Spanish course - To make the most of your elective in Argentina we recommend that you have a basic level of Spanish and are keen to learn more! We offer an intensive week long course that you can take when you arrive in Mendoza, giving you the opportunity to learn the basics as well as specialise in medical Spanish. It is unique to Work the World and is the best way to prepare for your placement. Read more on our Intensive Spanish Course page.