internship electives in underprivileged countries

[miamiradonc]

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I have the opportunity to do an away elective during internship in another country. Has anyone ever done this and/or does anyone know how to go about arranging it? Especially Africa. Thank you.

 

[usnavdoc]

I have the opportunity to do an away elective during internship in another country. Has anyone ever done this and/or does anyone know how to go about arranging it? Especially Africa. Thank you.

If your program is allowing this they should help you arrange it. They may not approve something you come up with without their input.

 

[3dtp]

I have the opportunity to do an away elective during internship in another country. Has anyone ever done this and/or does anyone know how to go about arranging it? Especially Africa. Thank you.

I did an elective month in eastern equatorial Africa and also in central Asia. I have some specialized skills in that were sorely needed and my institutions allowed me time to assist as a missionary in these areas. I made the arrangements myself and through a mission society and the Agency for International Development. Specifically what do you plan to accomplish and what agencies have you worked with? PM me for full details on what I did and how I did it.

 

[miamiradonc]

I don't have any specific goals, i simply want to work with and help an underprivileged population, probably in Africa, this is not religious so I don't know if mission work is my best or only option. Thanks for responding.

 

[southerndoc]

Check out the Yale/Johnson & Johnson International Health Scholars program for funding. They have a number of rotations set up in Zambia, Ghana, Uganda, and Liberia pretty soon. Non-Yale residents and graduates are eligible to apply. The deadline for this year may have already passed (it's passed for Yale residents, but not sure of non-Yale individuals).

 

[miamiradonc]

Thanks I really appreciate your response, when you say the deadline has passed that is for the entire 2006, 2007 academic year?

 

[3dtp]

I don't have any specific goals, i simply want to work with and help an underprivileged population, probably in Africa, this is not religious so I don't know if mission work is my best or only option. Thanks for responding.

You might check with Zenabe Bekela, Medical director of the Ras Desta Hospital in Addis Abeba. Ethiopia is on the State Department Watch list and does have travel advisories out. I don't know how the situation has changed there in recent years, but it was on the list when I was there and I had not trouble. I stayed with a deputy in the US diplomatic mission which helped and had a UN driver.

Even though your ideas are not religious you might try the Christian Medical Society for ideas as well. I don't know what opportunities they have, but Dave Stevens has been active in hospitals in Nairobi and elsewhere. Their web site is www.cmda.org. I've never worked directly with them, so I don't know their requirements or plans.

If I think of anything else I'll put it up. Let us know what you find out. If there's enough interest I'll post some details of what I did and learned.

 

[miamiradonc]

Thanks, Ethopia sounds perfect actually, I know they are currently relatively stable with respect to Eritrea (which was probably why they were on the list in the first place). Do you have contact numbers for the program you worked through in Ethopia? How did you stay with a diplomatic official?

 

[3dtp]

Thanks, Ethopia sounds perfect actually, I know they are currently relatively stable with respect to Eritrea (which was probably why they were on the list in the first place). Do you have contact numbers for the program you worked through in Ethopia? How did you stay with a diplomatic official?

The NGO I was funded through had connections with the embassy and I think partial funding for the project came from UNICEF or the WHO. I'll check and see if I still have the contact numbers or email addresses of the folks who ran the project and get back to you. What's your time frame?

Don't kid yourself, Eritrea was part of it, but down in the Rift Valley, towards Kenya, there are armed bandits who'd make short work of an unescorted group of travellers. No one that I knew of drove from Addis to Nairobi. They all flew. I think towards Dire Dawi, Djubuti was better, but travelling outside of Addis had some risk. I did go down to Nazaret and didn't have any difficulties there (just those creepy little anopheles mosquitos that park with their back legs up in the air). There are probably some Ethiopians on this site who may have some insight into the present situation.

 

[miamiradonc]

if you can find that info, that would be great, thanks for the heads up on the security scene.