Boost your career on a paramedic science elective abroad
Go on a once-in-a-lifetime paramedic science elective placement with Work the World and you’ll get career-boosting clinical experience in an overseas hospital. Then in your free time, you’ll have life-changing travel experiences with new friends.
You are in total control — you tell us what you want to experience and we'll tailor your overseas placement to your specific interests. You choose everything from the destination right down to the kinds of hospital or clinic you want to get experience in.
You’ll find the experience to be eye-opening. And that’s true whether you’re a undertaking an elective for paramedic students or graduates.
Why go on a paramedic placement abroad?
- Unique experience that puts you ahead of your peers
- Stand out to employers when job hunting
- Strengthen your academic profile
- Build a network to tap into during your career
- Gain perspective that reframes your view of the NHS
- Build confidence by stepping out of your comfort zone
- Get inspiration around where you might specialise
"The doctors and nurses in the ED did an amazing job with the few resources they had." Amber, University of East Anglia
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Eye-opening clinical placement
A paramedic science elective placement abroad is all about the challenge and taking on a new attitude towards the discipline. For example, you will come to see that, for all it’s faults, the NHS ambulance service is a miracle in comparison to the services offered by some of our destinations (if they offer one at all).
On your paramedic placement abroad you'll have the opportunity to see:
- No on-scene emergency treatment
- Limited resources (especially single-use items)
- Manual intubation without pain relief
- Treatments carried out in busy corridors
You will also see major differences in the fundamentals of paramedic science too. For example, in most of our destinations, primary care doesn’t exist. This means some patients use A&E as a GP surgery, making emergency care that much harder.
Tap into our hospital partnerships
Our long-established international hospital partnerships let us tailor your placement down to a level of detail that would be impossible if you were trying to organise your trip independently.
The partnerships also allow us to guarantee things like your hospital placement, supervision, and your choice of departments. You'll get detailed information on all of the above long before you travel.
You also get an exceptional level of flexibility should you want to amend your paramedic science elective choices while you're overseas. All of this means you have the opportunity to create a placement suited perfectly to you, without the risk of your elective plans falling through.
Once-in-a-lifetime travel
As a paramedic science student or graduate, your clinical placement is the focus of your trip. But your free time in the afternoons and weekends will be packed full of experiences like:
- Relaxing on palm-lined, white-sand beaches
- Getting close to elephants, lions and giraffes on safari
- Swimming with curious sea turtles on warm tropical reefs
- Hiking (or paragliding!) through the Himalays
- Spending a weekend hopping between paradise islands
But it's the people you share it with that really make your Work the World trip memorable. You'll live with other healthcare students and graduates in a big private house.
What's included?
The service you get with us is end-to-end. That means we will support you before, during and even after your trip.
You'll get:
- Pre-departure preparation with our UK team
- Structured, supervised paramedic science elective placement
- Private, catered accommodation
- 24/7 in-country team
- Airport pick up and drop off
- + more
Arrivals are every Sunday, 52 weeks of the year — travel on your paramedic placement abroad when it suits you. Durations of placements for paramedic science students start from one week.
DESTINATIONS
Ghana - Takoradi
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Your paramedic science elective takes place in the largest and best-equipped hospital in Takoradi. But that doesn’t mean it’s well equipped compared to what you’re used to. You will be in an open plan A&E with separate areas for paediatrics and minor surgery. That said, the lines between these areas blur when things get busy, which is often. You can even spend time with local Ghanaian students, sharing skills and stories. You will also see how even the smallest differences in local Ghanaian culture impact emergency care.
Vietnam - Hue
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Paramedic science placements in Vietnam are fascinating. This is, in part, because traditional medicine is built right into the healthcare system. This means you’ll see how modern practises complement ancient traditions. In our partner hospital’s A&E department you’ll see cases like RTA’s and trauma, and unfamiliar diseases. Many patients travel in from some of Vietnam’s most rural areas, so the patient demographic is mixed.
Philippines - Iloilo
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Your paramedic science elective in Iloilo takes place in the largest government tertiary referral hospital on Panay Island. The hospital is recognised as one of the government’s centres of excellence. Emergency services here are housed in one central complex with separate areas for triage, resuscitation, internal medicine, trauma, ENT, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, and paediatrics. In this busy department, you’ll see cases of everything from tropical diseases like dengue fever, right the way through to stab wounds.
Tanzania - Dar es Salaam
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On a paramedic science elective in Dar es Salaam, you’ll see that Tanzania is seriously lacking in financial resources, and is rarely able to develop its healthcare system. The A&E department in your placement hospital here was only established in 2010. As this is the only A&E of its kind in all of Tanzania, some emergency cases are referred from many hours’ drive away. For some patients, a few hours will be too late. The department is busy, day in, day out. What’s more, doctors and nurses work shifts here, so you’ll get face time with lots of different staff, giving you a breadth of experience.
Nepal - Kathmandu
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Undertake your paramedic science elective in Kathmandu, and you’ll spend time in a busy A&E. Ambulances are used locally, but for the most part, patients tend to make their own way to hospital. This means patients won’t have had any on-scene or in-ambulance treatment before you see them, often critically injured. As well as trauma cases, you’ll also see plenty of late-stage conditions — there are no primary care options in Nepal so patients use A&E as their first port of call.
"My uni doesn’t offer an elective as part of my degree. I’d always been really interested in healthcare abroad, so it seemed too much of a good opportunity to miss out on."
Georgia Brailsford, University of Lincoln 2022
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"The hospital team were so welcoming. The ED is a fast paced environment, you definitely get more opportunities if you’re proactive".
Devon Mitchell-McCann , Bradford University 2022
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"A man came in quite poorly. He was really delirious and obviously needed oxygen. But the family couldn’t afford it, so he didn’t get it."
Emily Wyre, University of Brighton 2021
Read moreWhat do our paramedic science electives offer?
A Work the World paramedic science elective gives you the chance to undertake a clinical placement in the developing world. You will spend time in a low-resource hospital and see unfamiliar practices and advanced conditions. You can even choose the departments you want to rotate through. Learn more here.
What are the benefits of a paramedic science elective?
The benefits of our paramedic science electives include:
- Expanding your clinical knowledge and skill set
- Becoming more confident, independent and resourceful
- Making yourself more attractive to employers
- Doing some proper travelling
- Building your personal and professional network
- Sharpening your language and communication skills
- Renewing your perspective on the NHS
What kinds of cases will I see on a Work the World overseas paramedic science elective?
You’ll see cases like:
- Tropical infectious diseases like malaria, dengue fever, and chikungunya
- Much higher numbers of RTAs than you’re used to at home
- Domestic abuse, assault, attempted suicide
- Hypo- and hyperglycaemia
- Sepsis with multi-organ failure
How long is a Work the World paramedic science elective?
A paramedic science elective is as long as you want it to be. Our minimum placement duration is one week, but students typically travel on their paramedic science electives for 4 weeks. There is no upper limit to how long you can travel.
What is a paramedic science elective?
A paramedic science elective is a clinical placement that paramedic science students undertake as part of their degree. If you want to undertake your paramedic science placement overseas, get in touch with us today.
