Getting clinical experience in a low-resource hospital overseas is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. So you should aim to get as much as you can from the experience while you're there.
High-quality in-hospital supervision is essential if you're going to get value from your experience.
To help you understand exactly why good supervisors are so important, let's first take a look at some of the ways low-quality supervision can negatively impact your placement experience.
How could low-quality supervision impact your experience?
- You'll get so much more from your placement when your supervisiors understand what you need -
What happens if your provider doesn't lay out clear expectations and boundaries with your overseas hospital supervisors before you travel? You’ll spend your placement feeling alienated and frustrated and eyeing up early flights home.
A bad relationship with your supervisors locks the door to your clinical experience. It’s critical that you get off on the right foot or that door to new experiences will stay firmly shut.
Don't forget — the idea of an elective placement isn't universally understood. And if your supervisors don't understand your intentions, aims and skill level you're not going to get a lot from the experience.
Travel with us and this is no longer a problem. But more on that later.
You have to make an ethical choice
- You'll get more involved if your supervision is properly structured -
What if you don’t have structure behind your supervision? You might unintentionally pull your supervisors' attention away from their day-to-day duties, and that will impact their patients.
You’re travelling to a low-resource hospital because you want to understand how local staff overcome their unique problems. The very last thing you want to do is contribute to them.
And what if your supervisors haven’t been briefed on your skill level? They might assume you're ready to take on procedures that are outside your scope of practice. And that’s a difficult conversation to have standing in front of patients and staff.
If you travel with us all of these problems go away. Let's explore what supervision looks like on a Work the World placement —
Get life-changing placement experience with well-organised supervision
- You get highly-qualified senior supervisors when you travel with Work the World -
You get huge benefits from the in-person relationships we have with our partner hospitals.
You’ll see we’re connected with everyone when get to the hospital. We work with staff on the wards right the way up to the hospital directors.
Your Work the World team in country will brief your supervisors before you travel. And this is only possible because of the pre-established relationships we have with our partner hospitals.
You’ll have total peace of mind knowing that your supervisors and their staff will know about you and what your aims are before you even set foot in the hospital.
Your supervisors will speak English
- You'll be able to have clinical conversations with your English-speaking supervisors -
You'll feel totally confident knowing that you can ask your supervisors complex clinical questions while you’re on placement. Remember — not every provider can promise this.
You get a guarantee that your supervisors will speak English if you travel with us.
Your supervisors will be highly qualified too, and many of them have even travelled to study in an English-speaking country.
You’ll get support when you need it and space when you don’t
- You can approach your placement in a way that suits you -
Your relationship with your supervisors is totally flexible.
You’ll get support and guidance when you need it. And when you’re feeling more confident you’ll get the space you need to explore your independence within your scope of practise.
This goes for your department teams as well. It’s true that your supervisor is key to your experience. But you’ll spend a lot of time with the broader staff team too.
They’ll welcome you as a new part of the team from day one, getting you involved in eye-opening clinical experiences as long as you throw yourself in.
Your clinical experience will be tailored to you
- You can get more involved if you build rapport -
You can rest assured that our partner hospitals and their supervising staff have hosted thousands of Work the World students and graduates before you.
You’ll see first hand how well they understand what a placement is and how to help you get the most from the experience.
Your supervisors and their teams will have a deep understanding of your aims, interests and skill level. So your experience on the wards will be just that — your experience.
“The hospital knew in advance of me arriving that I had finished university this year, so essentially I am qualified. Once they could see my capabilities they immediately got me more involved.
Under their supervision they allowed me to assist with deliveries. We got on so well. I just needed a few days to find our feet on how we work together and build a good working relationship.” - Amy New, Midwifery placement in Ghana
Start your journey
So now you know the benefits of the high-quality hospital supervision you'll get on your Work the World placement. You also know what could happen if you leave things down to chance.
And you can feel completely confident knowing that you get complete flexibility when booking your Work the World placement. We've also introduced new procedures in our accommodation to give you total peace of mind while you're overseas.
Get your once-in-a-lifetime overseas placement started by choosing your discipline below.
Start your journey
Take your first step towards this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity by choosing your discipline below.
Take your first step towards this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity by choosing your discipline below.
