What inspired you to work for Elective Africa?
The potential to make an impact on the lives of trainees in the health sector and also the capacity to build up the health systems in Kenya and Tanzania. We have a great team who is young and vibrant, which makes working here fun and adventurous.
Having lunch with the team
How do you use your education and international background in your current role?
I was schooled in health systems management and therefore I make use of my knowledge everyday through advisory of students and in guiding the day-to-day operations of the students in the rotations and of the hospital.
What challenges do you often face and how do you overcome them?
My greatest challenge is varied student requests. I overcome this challenge by listening to them and handling each differently. I overcome mentorship challenges by speaking more closely with doctors and other health professionals to help the students.
What advice would you tell your pre-travel self?
Keep calm and be ready. Travel is an adventure that unfolds as you have it. The only preparation that you can truly make is to prepared to be open minded and to be culturally enthusiastic about having the exposure that travel has in store for you.
Welcoming new participants
What makes your Elective Africa special?
We are special because of the room we have for customized exposure, guided learning for students, and the unmatched ability for students to be able to learn from many different experiences in the health care system.
Why should someone choose Elective Africa over competitors?
Our organization is based in the locations where the placements happen. Therefore, we are able to maximize experiences for the students and also offer incredible on-the-ground support; students are supported from entry to exit!
A feel of the culture
What hopes do you have for the future of Elective Africa?
My hope is to be the leading organization offering healthcare travel opportunities to students from all over the world, and therefore positively contribute to the positive growth of health systems and health care professionals.
What makes your organization easy to market to potential participants?
It is easy to market due to our great presence on online platforms, past participants’ success stories, and above all the round-the-clock presence of our staff who respond to client inquiries and applications.
What is your organization's mission and how do you continue to work toward it?
Our mission is to redefine educational travel. We work on this by always ensuring that participants are getting the exposure recommended by schools and desired by students.
What do you hope participants take away from your programs?
We hope that they take away exposure to new systems in healthcare systems, clinical experiences through hospital rotations, cultural sensitivity through interactions with the health system, and more passion for their course of study through all of the above.
How do you help support participants?
We support participants through mentorship and supervision to ensure clinical enrichment, through on-the-ground support to gain feel of the culture, and through global health tutorials to ensure more passion is built.
If you could participate on one of your organization's programs, where would you go and what would you do?
I would like to go to Mombasa Kenya for a medical internship. There I would want to work with the doctors and get to learn more on how they deliver care with limited resources.
Taking donations to the hospital with a participant
What questions do participants often ask you, and how do you typically respond?
Students often ask:
Where can we go? So we give the students all details on the locations.
What can we do? We give details on clinical opportunities.
Is it safe? We provide details of the measures we take to ensure security.
What advice do you have for individuals thinking about going abroad?
Going abroad is an amazing decision. One lives to be happy and to recall the memories created. Ensure to start planning early to avoid the pitfall of hastiness and choose organizations you travel with carefully.
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
Meaningful travel is whereby one gets to learn something new, further their passions, and experience something different from what they are accustomed to. It’s the chance to travel not for the sake of it but for the sake of making an impact.
