Here’s some news you might not have heard — going overseas for your elective is back on! You can book onto any of our programmes, and you can do it right now.
In fact, healthcare students like you are already back on the wards in our overseas partner hospitals.
This means you have a rare chance to get the once-in-a-lifetime experience you nearly missed out on during the pandemic. And don’t worry if you’ve already graduated — you can still undertake a placement even if you’ve finished your degree.
In this post you’ll hear from other healthcare students who are undertaking their electives in our longest-running programme — Ghana!
You’ll get all the benefits of our stress-free service
“I was seriously stressed, but the person I was speaking to at Work the World made it super easy. They just kept telling me it wasn’t a problem and that they would help with everything.
They were great during the pandemic as well, reassuring me that my placement was still secure even though I had to wait until things were clear. They were in communication with me the whole time and always updated me. It was amazing.” - Corinne, nursing elective 2021
Nervous? You'll settle in the second you meet your housemates
“I had booked to go on my own which I was nervous about. When I first landed in Ghana my initial thought was ‘what have I done?’ I was met by the Work the World team at the airport and by the time I arrived at the house, settled in, unpacked and met some of the people who had already been on placement a week or so, I was absolutely fine.” - Lara, nursing elective 2021
You’ll get a warm welcome to your placement hospital
“The next day we went to our hospital orientation. As a group, the Work the World team took us to every single department, and introduced us to our supervisors. Having this tour around the hospital was certainly eye opening. The hospital staff were so welcoming and friendly. They always did their best to explain everything, and if they did not know what I was asking, they would find someone to help me.” — Sabina, nursing elective 2021
An overseas elective will open your eyes to the challenges local staff face
“For me it was about seeing that local hospital staff didn’t have a lot of equipment compared to us, but they make do with what they have. It was really impressive, like using the end of a latex glove as a tourniquet. They don’t need all the fancy equipment, they’ve just learned to adapt.” — Lisa, nursing elective 2021
You’ll see things you would never see in the UK
“We saw the biggest differences in treatment — the local physios would use a lot of electrotherapy and infrared therapy. And we don’t really use those treatments in the UK because they’re not evidence based. But we saw that it was working for some patients and again, we just had to respect that that was the way they did things over there.” - Sophia, physiotherapy elective 2021
You’ll confront the stark realities that patients face every day
“Very often people in Ghana were unable to afford care or had been unable to seek medical help until the later stages of their illness. If people were unable to pay for treatment or their relatives were unable to pick up the necessary supplies from the hospital's store in order to move forward with their treatment plans, they did not receive the care.” - Emilia, nursing elective 2021
The Work the World house will feel like your home from home
“The whole Work the World team was so nice, every single one of them. They work so hard and we were all so grateful.” — Amy, midwifery elective 2021
“The food at the house was awesome, in fact I am still waiting on a recipe from the catering team there for their delicious Red Red Groundnut!” — Natasha, nursing elective 2021
“I also loved the language lessons at the house, they were so much fun. No one in the hospital expects you to know the language, but being able to greet the hospital staff and patients, you could see they really appreciated the effort. It helped me build good relationships and allowed me to interact with the patients.” — Shawna, nursing elective 2021
“Outside the hospital, it was great living in the Work the World house with students from other areas of healthcare. It was a really good group and we all made friends really easily. Everybody was on the same page, and because most of us had travelled there alone, we really bonded.” — Sofie, medical elective 2021
You’ll get to explore a part of the world you would never otherwise see
“Going on my own I was worried about time away from placement, but we all travelled together for weekend trips as a group which was great. We went to Accra, Cape Coast, Mole National Park.
After placement midweek we would also go to some of the local beachside hotels in Takoradi for drinks and sit by the pool or go on nights out together. I’m still in contact with some of the people I met and some of us are already planning a trip with Work the World to Sri Lanka next year!” — Natasha, nursing elective 2021
Beat the rush for 2024 placements
Places for medical electives in 2024 are filling up fast — as the world reopens, students like you are securing their spaces to make sure they don't miss out. It’s critical you save your space as early as you can with that in mind.
And here’s the good news — you can now pay for your placement in bite-sized instalments. Better still, YOU decide the amount you want to pay and when you want to pay it.
Secure your place today
Make sure you don't lose your chance to have the experience of a lifetime — choose your discipline below to get started.
Make sure you don't lose your chance to have the experience of a lifetime — choose your discipline below to get started.
