At a glance
- This is a volunteer opportunity with Projects Abroad. Devxchange will assist you in choosing the right fit, raising funds with your own campaign page, issuing tax receipts to donors if project meets CRA criteria as a charitable activity. Devxchange will also assist you in onboarding with Projects Abroad.
- Shadow doctors on their rounds and get a valuable insight into a developing country’s medical practices.
- Placements available in Hospitals, clinics and HIV/AIDS centres
- Get practical work experience doing basic health checks and giving talks to raise awareness around key health issues.
Details
- Working in a hospital or clinic, observing local staff
- Taking part in medical outreaches in underprivileged communities
- Taking part in health education campaigns
Includes/Excludes
Food and Accomodation
- Food (three meals a day)
- Airport pick-up and drop-off
- Full induction and orientation by an experienced staff member on arrival
- Transport to and from your work placement
- In-country support and 24-hour back-up from our team of full-time local staff
- Emergency assistance from our international emergency response team
- Project equipment and materials, including access to our database with thousands of resources
- Training and workshops from our experienced local staff
- Regular social events and community activities with other volunteers and interns
- Access to our local office with internet connection
- Certification of project completion
- Access to our alumni services and discounts
- Visa support and advice
- Fundraising support, including your own personalized fundraising website with DevXchange
- Tax Receipts for your donors if activity meets CRA criteria for charitable activity.
- Pre-departure preparation by your own specialist Volunteer Advisor
- Personalized MyProjectsAbroad website, with all the information you need about your project, accommodation and destination
- A free cultural awareness course
- Membership to our volunteer social media groups, to share information and to get in touch
- Support to help you complete registration or internship documents, if applicable
Not Included
- Flights
- Visa Costs (where applicable)
- 10% Admin fee for donations involving tax receipts.
Itinerary
Our Medical internships are perfect for you if you’re looking to learn about medicine and improve your skills. We have a range of options available, depending on your level of experience.
Pre-university students
Interns with no experience in the medical field are welcome to join us. You’ll work with doctors and nurses in small private clinics. Here you can observe and learn from consultations and minor surgeries. You can also spend time in the laboratory, paediatric and maternity wards.
There is also the option to work at HIV/AIDS centres. These centres give free treatment and consultations to patients. Here interns help to raise awareness and teach about safety, acceptance and tolerance.
University Students
Interns who have some experience and are already studying medicine, work at one of two public hospitals. There is the opportunity to work in a variety of departments including paediatrics, psychiatry/psychotherapy, dentistry, radiology, obstetrics, maternity, dermatology, chemical pathology, pathology, haematology, anaesthesia and neurology.
In all cases, you’ll work alongside a qualified supervisor. They will be on hand to offer support and guidance during your placement.
Interns on all medical related projects in Togo need a good level of French. Most of the staff and patients do not speak English and it is vital that you can understand and communicate in French while you are working in the hospital.
Professional volunteers and medical electives for students
This project is also ideally suited to professionals interested in using their skills to help, as well as university medical and healthcare elective students.
As a professional, you can be sure we will match your training and expertise to the placement where you are needed most. With your support, we can make an even bigger impact on the local communities we work with.
If you are an elective student, we will organise an elective placement where you can learn as much as possible. We want you gain the knowledge and skills that will begin to shape your professional career.
Read more about volunteering as a professional or taking a healthcare elective as a student.
Your day will start with breakfast at your host family, where you’ll eat a hearty meal to prepare yourself for the day ahead. You’ll be living with at least one other intern or volunteer, so meals are a great time to learn about each other’s lives back home, or discuss plans for the weekend.
On any given day, you will work shifts alongside your supervisors. Hospitals and clinics in Togo tend to be busiest in the morning, so you’ll start early and pack in a lot of work before lunch each day!
Each shift starts with rounds as you follow the consulting doctor and learn about each patient’s case and course of treatment. Use this opportunity to ask plenty of questions. After rounds, you’ll assist nurses with patient care. You can watch them administer medication and treatment, and help to update patient files.
Afternoons are a great opportunity to get to know the staff and patients better.
Once a week, normally on Wednesdays, you’ll join one of our community outreaches to assist with doing health checks and educational campaigns.
During the hours you aren’t working, you’ll have free time to explore Togo’s unique culture alongside your fellow interns and volunteers.
You’ll finish each day with dinner at your host family, before relaxing with a good book or venturing out with your fellow volunteers or interns to explore Lomé’s nightlife.
The main aim of this project is to help expand your medical knowledge with guidance from experienced local doctors and nurses.
It also gives you insight into the healthcare system of a developing country. Many Togolese government hospitals receive limited funding, which means they often lack the resources that are standard in most western hospitals.
Togo also suffers from ongoing cases of malaria and other tropical diseases.
Through school and community outreaches, we help educate local people about malaria prevention and the importance of early treatment. Our interns also help conduct screenings and tests to prevent further complications. We also offer basic healthcare services, as people are not always able to afford treatment for infected wounds, ringworm, or malaria.
Here are our five main goals for our medical program in Togo:
- Promote the exchange of medical knowledge
- Improve access to basic healthcare
- Promote awareness of non-communicable diseases, like diabetes
- Improve the quality of healthcare
- Reduce the number of malaria cases
Gain work experience in healthcare on an international medical internship in Togo, while helping us achieve these long-term goals.
During your medical internship in Togo, you will be able to work in a number of different departments. These include:
- Paediatrics
- Psychiatry/Psychotherapy
- Dentistry
- Radiology
- Obstetrics
- Maternity
- Dermatology
- Chemical Pathology
- Haematology
- Anaesthesia
- Neurology
If you’re interested in a specific department, please feel free to contact us and we can help advise you.
Food and Accomodation
You’ll stay with a local host family in Lomé, Togo’s capital city. Togolese families are famous for their generous hospitality, and pride in their home country. You’ll be able to get to know your new host family, learning about their history and culture, as well as sharing your own.
Your host family will provide you with breakfast, lunch and dinner each day. Togo is famous for its delicious cuisine, so you’ll be able to sample lots of traditional dishes, as well as a few Western meals too! If you’re interested in food and cooking, you might even be able to help cook some dishes, learning some tips and tricks from your host family.
We will always try to let you live alongside at least one other Projects Abroad volunteer or intern at the same host family. Your room will be modest, but comfortable, clean, and safe.
Find out more about our accommodation.
Free time and leisure activities
You’ll work Monday to Friday and have your evenings and weekends free. You’ll be living with other volunteers and interns, so there will be plenty of people to socialise with in your free time!
There’s so much to do in Togo, from a shopping trip to one of Lomé’s traditional markets, to sunbathing on beautiful sandy beaches.
If you’re a keen foodie, you’re sure to enjoy sampling some of West Africa’s best cuisine. There are plenty of restaurants to try, but also a huge array of exciting street food vendors too.
If you’d like to travel even further afield, you could also arrange a trip to nearby Ghana or Benin. Many of our volunteers and interns plan some extra travel time at the end of their project, so that they can take longer to explore nearby countries.
