Description

The China California Heart Watch is a non-profit entity that offers programs in rural Yunnan Province in southwest China. Interns are involved with the delivery of cardiac and blood pressure screenings, healthcare delivery, and educational programs. We are seeking those interested in future careers in medicine, nursing, public health, or other fields, to participate in our June 5 - 30, July 5 -28, or August 5 - 27 internship.

This internship is an opportunity for health and pre-health students to gain hands-on experience with public health and medical care in the developing world. Our interns will work with, and assist, the ChinaCal team as we travel into the De Qin Prefecture, home of Shangri-La County in the southwestern highland of Yunnan. There, we will screen for heart disease, treat cardiac ailments, research hypertension, and offer free general medical care to villagers who otherwise lack access to adequate health care.

Interns will not only have the opportunity to travel to places where few Westerners have ever been, but they will get a chance to see from the ground level how a public health and primary care system operates in the developing world.

There will be two groups of 5 to 8 interns each. Faculty from Kunming and Dali Universities will accompany us. The two groups will work in separate villages running clinics and conducting research on hypertension according to standard epidemiological methodology. Interns will also participate in writing reports for local health departments.

Highlights

This year we will be screening school children for heart disease in Qujing prefecture in June and possibly in September, we will be doing cardiac research in Dali, Diqing and Lijiang prefectures.

You will be working with Professor Robert Detrano and his faculty from USC, Kunming Medical University and the University of Nevada. There will be an emphasis on pediatric heart disease.

Qualifications

We require only that our interns have an interest in medicine in the developing world and that they are able to maintain a positive attitude in sometimes less-than-ideal living and working conditions. Candidates with backgrounds in clinical research and medicine will be given preference, but it is not a requirement.

Intern Types

• Biology(General)
• Biomedical Sciences
• Medicine

Languages

• Chinese
• English

Cost in US$:

2,000 tax deductible

Program Fees Include:

In addition to a USD 2000 tax deductible program fee for this internship, which we use to pay for village doctor training, surgeries for children with heart disease and to purchase medicines and pay medical staff, you are required to cover the cost of your round trip air ticket, local travel, local room, and meals. Local expenses are usually about USD 150 per week.

PLEASE NOTE: The deadline for applying to this program is JUNE 21 at 11:59 PM. All applications must be received by this date in order to be considered. If accepted, receipt of payment is the only means to guarantee a spot on the trip. This internship is first-come, first-served among those who have been accepted.

Experience Required

yes

Preference is given to candidates with Mandarin abilities, but it is by absolutely no means a requirement. Our teams from ChinaCal are American and Chinese and are bilingual for English and Mandarin.

Volunteer Types

Typical Volunteer

Our previous interns and volunteers have been undergraduate, postgraduate, and medical students from around the world. Backgrounds vary from the liberal arts to public health, medicine and epidemiology.

Age Range

18-65

This Program is open to

Worldwide Participants. This Program is also open to Couples and Individuals.

Typical Living Arrangements

• Apartment/Flat
• Dormitory
• Group living
• Guest House
• Home-stays

Participants Travel

Independently

Typically Participants Work

in Groups of 5-7

Application Process Involves

• Phone/Video Interview
• Written Application

Typically The Application Process Time is

2 weeks

China California Heart Watch's Mission Statement

We, the China California Heart Watch, are a non-profit corporation working to further understanding and provide relief to the problems associated with hypertension and heart disease in rural western China.

Year Founded

2006