Top Medical and Nursing Volunteer Opportunities Abroad

I enjoyed the orientation week a lot, because we saw the main attractions of Ho Chi Minh City and we got to learn about the Vietnamese culture. The whole week was very well organised and there was not a second when I was bored. I also enjoyed working with other volunteers during the program. You get to meet a lot of different people with different backgrounds who have the same aim, which is helping others. Overall this trip was a great experience for me. You can say it was the trip of my life. I got to meet a lot of interesting people who wanted to help other people. The fact that you can volunteer but at the same time travel around Vietnam is a great thing. I learned a lot about the vietnamese culture and tried a lot of food from its cuisine. I highly reccomend this trip to anyone who loves to travel. By volunteering you get to experience how some days look like for some of the locals. This way you get to know the culture of the country even better instead of just travelling.

It was very hands on and I learned an incredible amount. I also loved being immersed in a Spanish speaking country. I also had an incredible experience taking Spanish classes at Cusco--the class was small and our teacher was so engaging! For the following three weeks I volunteered a 40 min bus ride from Cusco. The staff was incredibly welcoming and I learned so much about the Peruvian health system and the burdens of diseases that affect the area.

I had such an incredible experience volunteering at the Orthopedic and Rehabilitation hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. I had an invaluable learning experience giving injections and bandaging open wounds, but I knew that the hospital had a continuous influx of volunteers from all over the globe. It was apparent that many of the families had become acclimated to the idea that a stranger with any degree of experience would be treating their loved ones. In a culture with an unbelievable commitment to family, loved ones assumed their roles as bedside nurses around the clock; tending to their family members to the point of sleeping on mats beneath their bed. Thus, an overwhelming sense of distrust and helplessness shrouded their faces as they stared at huddles of volunteers to whom they were given no introduction and to whom they were unable to communicate with in order to voice their concerns. Although my Vietnamese language skills were limited, I felt it was my duty to use what I knew to introduce myself and the other volunteers in hopes of easing their clenching eyebrows. The small exchange of words was enough to put a smile on their faces. I took comfort in expressing our keenness to help and relieving the impression that they were specimens at our disposal. My bilingual trade soon gave me a larger significance within the hospital. After my first rotation in the operating room, the senior orthopedic surgeon requested that I join the surgical team for their morning English classes. I was honored to lend a helping hand for something that they were truly eager to learn. Something that would help them enhance their credentials, so that they would be more qualified for a better job at the international hospital and better able to communicate with the volunteers. For three days a week, I arrived two hours early to accompany the surgical team: teaching them, learning from them, and laughing with them. Those moments reached far beyond the gratification of giving my first intramuscular injection. I esteemed the nonchalant air in which they diligently operated during surgery, but during these early hours I felt a sense of humility and a mutual sense of gratitude. When they welcomed me into the family by the end of my placement, I felt as though I successfully made a small mark on the country in which my roots are embedded. I loved getting to know the staff at the hospital and having the ability to go early and teach them english because I really felt as though I was helping them in something that they were eager to learn.

I had an amazing experience. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I would most definitely recommend to others in the future. I liked working at the clinic and getting to know the patients personally. It was interesting and amazing.

The project enabled me to mingle with the locals and I saw first hand how the project helped the people of Cambodia. I made many friends with the same passion as mine that is to deliver quality health care regardless of the status or background. I also learnt and observed how health care is delivered in another country.

It was my first time to go to a medical placement and I love it a lot! All coordinators and other volunteers are helpful and willing to teach me. Through this experience, I got loads of chances to practice the skills I learnt in my nursing school and I gained more confidence. What's more! This program reminds me of the reasons why I want to be a nurse and I appreciated my future career a lot! One more point to add is that the arrangement of this program is excellent, with nice accommodation and food~

My time abroad was definitely a worthwhile experience. I was able to watch surgeries in person, that I would never have been able to see back home in America unless I was a medical student. I had a good time learning and being able to observe medical expertise from trained physicians.

This was such a wonderful immersion process that gave me such wonderful insight to the culture and medical practices abroad. It gave me a chance to have hands on experience that I'd never get in the U.S. and helped me to become a better global citizen!

If you are reading this, chances are you are probably looking for a way to stand out as a college health-school applicant like me. I took the opportunity during the dry season (when it is not so hot) to visit Samrong, Cambodia not only as a way to gain insight to the medical environment in developing countries, but also as a cultural experience. Here, the people are extremely friendly and open. Local doctors allow even the most inexperienced of volunteers a way to make a difference, whether that is treating dress wounds on injured patients or by helping them on more complicated surgeries, such as a c-section or stitching. I think two weeks is enough time to see just about everything in the hospital, although three weeks may provide for an opportunity to see some of the rarer events like a c-section multiple times. On the weekends, there is no mandatory work, so volunteers often visit the local temples in Siem Reap. Other volunteers can be found in the volunteer complex, so after work-hours are never boring. Be sure to bring lots of bug spray!