As a medical volunteer you will work alongside the clinic’s doctors and nurse to learn about the common diseases affecting the local population and how to treat them. You will deal closely with patients from the local San community, learn more about their way of life and give care to patients living in extreme poverty at the clinic’s remote location. The teaching will be tailored to your skill level, background and knowledge.
Prospective medical students can expect teaching on basic clinical skills, history taking and examinations of patients. Trained professionals will be asked to run consultations with patients and assist during the outreach work. This will provide a great opportunity for trained professionals to have a greater impact on the people who are most in need of help.
Depending on the length of your stay and medical knowledge, you may be asked to undertake a research project/assignment. This should be something that you are interested in, as well as be something that is useful to the clinic and of benefit to our patients. Examples of projects for a medical volunteer include mapping distances patients travel to the clinic and local patterns of disease, rates of TB amongst our patients and compliance with medication, and our patients’ knowledge of HIV transmission and disease.
Volunteer activities:
Daily activities could include:
• Helping within the clinic to treat endemic issues like TB
• Providing food and care to the community
• Going on outreach to bring high-quality healthcare to those who need it most.
Volunteers often have special skills that are invaluable to the clinic and we encourage you to use them and suggest new activities that you feel the project will benefit from.
Please note: Itineraries and activities are subject to change.
Arrival/departure day
– Transfers to the clinic depart from the sanctuary every Monday morning and arriving back on the sanctuary on the Monday afternoon.
– 7-night minimum stay
Accommodation, food and other facilities
- Rooms are usually double rooms for sharing. Single room available on request.
- All food is provided, volunteers are expected to play a vital part in the cleaning and cooking duties.
- Most dietary requirements can be catered for.
- We have a washing machine that volunteers can use.
Limited cell-phone reception, Wi-Fi is available