Doing your healthcare elective abroad presents you with the unique opportunity to get eye-opening clinical experience and make a lifetime’s worth of travel memories.
But don’t start dreaming about fast-paced hospitals and paradise beaches just yet.
Organising an overseas clinical elective involves a mountain of complex paperwork before even you set foot on a plane. That is unless you travel with Work the World.
— You can forget about laborious admin if you choose us —
Breeze through our pre-departure process
You’ll have direct contact with our expert team from the moment you secure your space on one of our programmes.
In the run-up to your departure dates, you’ll go through our tried and tested pre-departure process. It’s designed to remove the stress of organising an overseas placement.
And as a part of that pre-departure process, you can count on our experienced team’s guidance on everything from visa applications to your university’s risk assessment requirements.
— You'll feel totally prepared before you head off for the experience of a lifetime —
Avoid visa application pitfalls with our expert guidance
You’ll need to apply for an entry visa before you travel to many of the destinations we operate in. Applying for a visa is an often complicated process if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Rules and requirements change all the time and they differ depending on which country you’re travelling to.
But once you’ve secured your space on one of our programmes, you can tap into our team’s decades-long collective know-how on the complexities of destination-specific paperwork.
— You'll get a warm welcome from our team once you're through immigration —
You'll also get access to MyTrip — your online placement planning dashboard.
Your MyTrip dashboard contains everything from an interactive placement timeline to comprehensive Info Packs that help you get prepared for your trip.
MyTrip also contains detailed destination-specific visa application guidelines that will lift the weight of research from your shoulders.
— MyTrip gives you access to decades of expertise at your fingertips —
You will find out:
- Which visa to apply for
- How and when to apply
- What to include on the forms
- Visa costs and how to pay
- How long it takes to process
You will also get handy links to the application forms themselves and relevant embassy websites.
Quick-access documents you can share with your uni
Need to meet your university’s requirements before you travel?
If so, they might ask you for confirmation of your travel dates, risk assessments, placement attendance records, information about your in-country supervisors… You get the idea.
— You get multi-layered supervision throughout your placement —
Once you have a confirmed placement with us, you’ll get access to all of the information you need. This is thanks to our experience working closely with universities and overseas hospitals. And we can provide more specific information if needed.
Risk assessments
Your university may ask for a risk assessment specific to the destination you’re travelling to. We conduct detailed risk assessments for each of our programmes, covering the things universities typically look for.
It’s worth highlighting that we only open programmes in destinations we have thoroughly vetted and deemed suitable.
Discover how our in-country teams help keep you safe overseas.
— You'll have total peace of mind while living in our private accommodation —
Hospital allocation letter
If you need to provide your university with official documentation, you can download your Hospital Allocation Letter.
Initially, this document contains provisional information about your placement. Then, following your Clinical Consultation, the document automatically updates to display all of your department choices and your main supervisor/point of contact in the hospital.
Your life will be made far simpler by having all of this information officially documented in a way that makes it easy to present to your university.
— You will get a placement carefully crafted to suit your unique skills and interests —
Downloadable documents to help with funding applications
Thinking about applying for a grant or bursary to fund your placement? Official documentation is going to be of particular importance to you.
Many funding bodies will ask you for official proof of your placement details. And like universities, funding bodies typically have unique requirements.
This won’t be a problem if you undertake your placement with Work the World. Once you’ve secured your space on one of our programmes, you’ll have access to all the information you need to satisfy each funding body’s requirements.
— Explore our funding hub for creative ideas on how to raise money for your trip —
Placement completion confirmation
Once you’re back from your trip, you’ll be able to download a document showing that you have completed your placement.
Your placement completion confirmation letter shows the destination you travelled to, your placement dates, and details of the hospital in which you undertook your placement.
It also includes information confirming that you got experience with unfamiliar cases, inventive practices and techniques, and unique cultural attitudes towards care.
— You'll get official proof of the unique clinical experience you had —
Demonstrate your competitive edge to employers
Your placement completion confirmation letter is also a great way to strengthen your academic and professional portfolio.
University faculties and employers — both NHS and private — place a high value on out-of-the-ordinary clinical experiences like this.
An overseas elective with us can have a profoundly positive impact on your career prospects.
— John says his Work the World placement transformed his career —
“A placement abroad stands out on your CV as a badge of durability, resourcefulness, and cross-cultural aptitude.
It says you’ve seen and experienced things unknowable in places like the UK. It says you’ve solved problems and debated ethics that are simply taken for granted at home.
It says that you've earned something few others have. Work the World prepares you in innumerable ways to be a better clinician and a better citizen of our planet - employers know this." - John Hansen Brevetti
Secure your space today to get total peace of mind
Travel with us and you’ll get help with more than just paperwork — you can rely on our expertise from the moment you get in touch, right the way through your trip.
So. Get your travel dates locked in and you can start dreaming about those paradise beaches.

Explore destinations
Discover your adventure in destinations across Africa and Asia.
Discover your adventure in destinations across Africa and Asia.