Volunteering Abroad Suggestions?

[DPS'03]

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I have applied to Canadian med schools and am on the waiting list, so I have an extra year to do something interesting as I re-apply. I want to volunteer abroad for about 2-3 months, preferably in Africa (Tanzania, Ghana, Kenya). Any suggestions on agencies, programs, or experiences to share?? Also, what kind of medical experience can a pre-med get abroad? Many organizations that provide healthcare insist that volunteers have medical/nursing degrees. Thanks so much.

 

[dmk724]

I have applied to Canadian med schools and am on the waiting list, so I have an extra year to do something interesting as I re-apply. I want to volunteer abroad for about 2-3 months, preferably in Africa (Tanzania, Ghana, Kenya). Any suggestions on agencies, programs, or experiences to share?? Also, what kind of medical experience can a pre-med get abroad? Many organizations that provide healthcare insist that volunteers have medical/nursing degrees. Thanks so much.

A classmate of mine from undergrad is spending some time teaching English in Tanzania, and he absolutely loves it. This is the program that he used:

http://www.mondochallenge.org/tanzania/index.html

Global Volunteers also runs programs around the world - they describe them as "volunteer vacations." I have no experience with them, though, so I don't know how good they are or what to expect.

http://www.globalvolunteers.org/1main/ghana/volunteer_in_ghana.htm
http://www.globalvolunteers.org/1main/tanzania/volunteer_in_tanzania.htm

These programs may be a bit pricey, though - I don't know what your budget is like. There aren't any programs that I know of that are directly geared towards pre-meds, but if you'd like to have hands-on experience working with kids, then Global Volunteers runs a program working with orphans in Romania, which counts as "care-giver" experience, I guess. It'd be useful if you had a strong interest in peds.

http://www.globalvolunteers.org/1main/romania/volunteer_in_romania.htm

Hope this was useful! Good luck.

 

[euromd]

This is absolutely the most comprehensive list that I have come across. There are organizations with and without religious affiliation, some that require a minimum time commitment of 1 week while others it's upwards of one year, some require you to pay to go, others will pay you!!! Just look carefully through everything and see where you will best fit in. Good luck, go to your local tropical medicine clinic and get vaccinated!

here is the link:

http://www.imva.org/Pages/orgdb/wblstfrm.htm

-S

p.s. some links may be outdated.

 

[DPS'03]

The IMVA website is definitely extensive and geared towards health professionals. Thanks for the suggestion.

Other sources that I have found helpful in searching for an opportunity (intern/volunteer) abroad have been:

1) www.nursingsociety.org/career/cmap_volunteer.html (has a great list geared towards healthcare and health education)
2) www.volunteerinternational.org
3) www.idealist.org (search by country, project type, etc.)

For information about the culture and do's and dont's while traveling in Tanzania or Ghana try:
www.goabroad.com/guides

Lastly, for books, I think that the Lonely Planet series is best. They have West Africa and Tanzania books.