Nepal Pokhara
Medical electives
Pokhara functions as a commercial hub for the surrounding area and our excellent relationship with several key hospitals and healthcare centres.
This means that students have access to big, busy wards and opportunities to work in key departments or smaller, niche clinics. Whether you are keen to scrub in for theatre or work with leprosy rehabilitation, there are all manner of options available.
Doctors are highly respected in Nepal as they tend to originate from the highest caste, but Nepali people are often very shy when it comes to talking to foreigners. You will need to be proactive to overcome this, but just a small effort on your part can lead to incredibly rewarding results. There is plenty to be learnt from the very dedicated teams who face a constant battle to deliver healthcare in one of the world's poorest countries.
We accept anyone on, or who has completed, a medical undergraduate course at the time of their elective.
What have students been treating recently in Nepal?
- Rheumatic Heart Disease
- Post viral glomerulonephritis
- Organophosphate poisoning
- Trauma (resulting from RTCs and falls from trees!)
- Meningitis
- Typhoid
- Tetralogy of Fallot
- Pulmonary TB
- G6P deficiency
- CMV hepatitis
- Abdominal examinations to assess fetal lie, presentation and engagement
- Breech birth
- Ovarian cyst
- Ectopic rupture
- Bicornuate uterus
- Cleft lip / palate
Recent blog articles about medical electives
Rebecca Rowe's case studyI quickly learned the importance of family and communities to the Nepali people. Patients were always surrounded by their full extended family and should a patient pass away the whole village community would arrive at the hospital to pay their respects.
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Steeped in culture and set upon the majestic background of the Himalayas, Nepal is an extraordinary country.
Yi Wei, University of Queensland 2012
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I think working in the health post really brought on our clinical abilities – having a limited set of tools our skills in clinical examination and deduction were really tested and they improved greatly.
Isla Young, University of Manchester 2012
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It was a great learning opportunity and I experienced doctors’ rounds, post partum care, deliveries, active labor care, and caesarian sections. It seems amazing now how different and yet similar things are between my own country’s practices and those in Nepal; while culture and resources are very different, the work, dedication, passion, and care for patients are the same.
Katie Doerler, Oregon Health and Science University 2012
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