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.
- Practice medicine in Argentina and start your medical career at a hospital learning directly from nurses and doctors.
- You will be rotating departments and will be attending rounds, so you can get a true experience of what diseases and conditions look like, which you only have seen on television or in textbooks.
- You will be living in Cordoba, a beautiful city near rivers, lakes and valleys, so many great places to sit and study.
Details
- Observe doctors and nurses on their rounds
- Attend medical lectures and workshops
- Participate in community outreaches
Includes/Excludes
Food and accommodation
- 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 in Argentina are ideal if you’re interested in becoming a doctor and looking for clinical experience. You can join as a student applying for medical studies, or as a medical student looking for work experience.
Working in a busy hospital and shadowing doctors on their rounds will add valuable experience to your CV. Use it when you apply for jobs and university, and you can talk about it in interviews. It’s also great for career exploration. We encourage you to spend time in different departments and find out which ones are the best fit for you.
You can join this programme from a minimum of two weeks, and stay for as long as you like. The internship runs throughout the year, and you choose exactly when to start and finish.
You do need to speak intermediate level of Spanish in order to join this project. This will help you understand and communicate with staff and patients.
While getting medical work experience in Argentina, you’ll work in a hospital and also spend time in smaller community clinics. Here is what you can expect to do during your internship:
- Shadow and learn directly from doctors and nurses
- Attend medical lectures and workshops
- Provide basic healthcare services and raise awareness during outreaches
In Cordoba, our medical placements include hospitals and small community clinics known as dispensarios. The hospital has several different departments, which include:
- Cardiology
- Dermatology
- Gynecology
- Hematology
- Maternity
- Neurology
- Orthopaedics
- Psychiatry
- Radiology
- Surgery
Access to these departments will provide you with the opportunity to learn more about different medical fields. It’s a great way to gain medicine work experience in Argentina.
If you’re only interning for a short period of time, be aware that you won’t be able to spend time in every department. Typically, our supervisors will assign you to one department per week, and rotate you to another department each following week. The longer you stay, the more departments you can observe. If you’re interested in a specific department, please feel free to contact us and we can help advise you.
Observe doctors and nurses on their rounds
You’ll accompany doctors and nurses on their rounds at the hospital. This is a great opportunity to learn directly from experienced medical professionals. We encourage you to ask questions and take notes about what you see.This will help you learn as much as possible about diseases and how doctors diagnose and treat them. You’re also likely to observe diseases and conditions you won’t find at home.
Attend medical lectures and workshops
Medical workshops and lectures are run once a week at the Projects Abroad office by our medical coordinator or by a guest speaker. They will introduce you to the healthcare system in Argentina. They’ll also talk about common healthcare issues present within the country, such as diabetes, dengue fever, etc.
These lectures can include a visit to the Anatomy Museum followed by a human dissection, run by local medical students. You’ll also have the opportunity to visit a local research centre to learn about a local disease native to Argentina called ‘Chagas’.
Participate in community outreaches
During your internship, you’ll get involved in medical outreach work in rural communities. These outreaches involve conducting basic health checks, administering medication, and treating minor wounds. Your work here is important, as many rural communities lack access to basic medical services. You’ll be supervised by qualified medical professionals every step of the way.
A typical work day at the hospital will consist of a 4-6 hour shift in the morning or afternoon. These shifts may be different depending on what department you’re working in. During your shift, you’ll shadow doctors and observe their interactions with patients.
You’ll also be able to do practical medical outreach work in rural communities. In Argentina, our focus is on raising awareness of diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This means that outreach work focuses on tasks like checking blood sugar and pressure levels.
You will also attend lectures and workshops once a week to learn more about the country’s medical practice.
During the hours you aren’t working, you’ll have ample free time to explore with your fellow interns, taking in Argentina’s rich cultural heritage and spectacular natural beauty.
Since you will be living with a host family, breakfast or dinners offer great opportunities to get to know them and the local culture better.
Cordoba
Cordoba is the second largest city in Argentina, and is regarded as one of the country’s most beautiful places. It’s surrounded by the Sierra region’s rolling hills, rivers, lakes, and quaint mountain villages.
The city is also home to world-class medical institutions. Healthcare here is generally considered to be of the highest standard throughout Latin America, and this is no different in Cordoba. Here, the clinics are excellent and the medical staff are well trained. However, elsewhere in the country, healthcare standards can vary greatly.
Food and accommodation
You’ll stay with a host family in Córdoba. They will welcome you into their home, eager to share their customs and have you teach them about your own culture. We believe that this is the best way to immerse yourself in the culture of Argentina and have a truly unique experience.
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.
Your programme fee includes three meals a day.
Free Time and Leisure Activities
Argentina is a vibrant South American country bursting with colour and rich heritage. Along with contributing to worthwhile projects, a trip with us to Argentina means you can explore this fascinating country.
Enjoying a coffee at the Plaza de San Martin, with its street performers and iconic statue of General Jose de San Martin, is the perfect way to spend an evening. It’s located in Cordoba, where our projects are based, so you don’t have to travel far for this experience.
For thrill seekers, you can take a weekend trip to La Cumbre where you can go paragliding off lofty cliffs. The surrounding nature is breathtaking and a horse ride around nature trails here is well worth it.
There are also enriching cultural experiences, like the Evita Fine Arts Museum or the Teatro del Libertador General San Martin. You can also learn more about the country’s history at local museums.
There will likely be other volunteers in Argentina with you. So you can choose to explore solo, or with a group of volunteers from different projects.
