"My trip to Tanzania with Work the World was great value for money.
The placement gave me the right balance of structure and independence, allowing me to explore in a way that suited me.
It might not be right for you, but for me, having just finished finals, it was stress-free perfection.”
— Richard Healey, medical elective placement in Tanzania (Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry)
As Richard points out, our medical electives are affordable, but there are no compromises when it comes to getting your money’s worth.
Travel with us and you’ll get:
- A medical elective tailored to your clinical interests
- Comprehensive pre-trip preparation
- Dedicated (24/7) in-country support team
- Private, catered accommodation
You're in control of choosing the departments in which you want to gain experience. Surgery, A&E, paediatrics, oncology, internal medicine, as well as a broad selection of departments not listed.
You'll benefit from the strong relationships we have with our partner hospitals. These relationships allow us to offer quality and flexibility of choice in a way that no one else can.
You'll see unfamiliar conditions like tropical diseases and snake bites, and learn how a lack of resources and sociocultural issues affect how care is delivered. The chance to get an experience like this doesn't come around often, so seize it while the opportunity presents itself.
Of course, there’s much more detail than that, so you can click here to read why our placements offer exceptional value for money.
What do we mean by affordable?
Our overseas medical electives start at £1440.
To put it a different way, if you secure your spot 12 months before you want to travel, you can pay the balance in instalments of about £30 a week.
Sacrifice a few luxuries here and there and you’ll hit your target without thinking about it.
If you simply can’t spare the cash, there are plenty of other ways to raise funds.
Fundraising
— Lisa fundraised £2350 towards her placement —
We set up a fundraising hub a while back and it kick-started more fundraising campaigns than we can keep track of.
The hub has loads of great tips and ideas to help you plan.
You’ll find guides on:
- Fundraising events
- Finding a sponsor
- Writing an effective online fundraising profile
- How to (successfully) apply for bursaries and grants
- How to get your message out
- How we can support your effort
Raising your funds is totally manageable, and that makes our placements even more affordable in the most practical way possible.
“I started raising funds in November time, around bonfire night. I wasn’t due to travel until about July, so it took me about nine months to get all the money together.
Just keep plugging away, and make sure you enjoy it while you’re doing it — I ended up raising £2350!” — Lisa Clark, placement in Tanzania
All this talk about affordability and we haven’t said anything about the experience itself.
Eye-opening medical experience
— You'll get to know the lives of local patients through meaningful interaction —
The idea behind our overseas medical electives is to get experience in a fast-paced, low-resource hospital in the developing world.
You’ll spend time in the departments you choose and put your clinical knowledge to the test with unfamiliar cases from tropical diseases to snake bites.
In our partner hospitals, you’ll see how cultural factors affect practices and treatments for the most economically disadvantaged patients.
In some of our destinations, you can even see the role traditional medicine plays in a developing healthcare system.
Below, you’ll find first-hand accounts from people who have already travelled with us.
Student Stories:
“Paediatric ward rounds were fascinating. I saw conditions I hadn’t really encountered before like malaria and severe malnutrition.” — Sarah Imbush, medical placement in Ghana
“Resources are limited here, which is a massive problem. Gloves are not readily available and it’s difficult to sterilise instruments. Pregnant mothers take turns to have foetal monitoring and pain medication is rarely used.” — Emma Stanhope, medical placement in the Philippines
So why Work the World?
With us, you’ll get a personal, end-to-end service. We offer support throughout your experience, from the moment you get in touch to when you get home from your trip.
We strongly recommend you visit this page to see exactly what you get with our service.
And beyond that, we're regarded as the experts in planning, customizing, and building medical electives abroad.
We’ve been doing what we do for over 15 years and have built placements for around +17,000 students from 400+ universities worldwide.
How do I get started?
Speak with one of our Elective Consultants. They’re all-knowing, and well-prepared to talk you through how we’ll tailor a placement with your name on it.
And you can feel completely confident knowing that you now get even more flexibility when booking your Work the World placement. We've also introduced additional procedures in our accommodation to give you total peace of mind while you're overseas
DESTINATIONS
AFRICA & ASIA
From relaxing on paradise beaches to trekking through the Himalayan Mountains, find your dreamdestination here.
From relaxing on paradise beaches to trekking through the Himalayan Mountains, find your dreamdestination here.
