Nursing Internship in Sri Lanka

This project is open to anyone with an interest in the nursing field. It’s a great way to boost your CV and prepare for a future career in healthcare.

We work hard to tailor our internships towards your interests and requirements, so let us know if you’d like to specialise in a particular area. Otherwise you have the chance to rotate through many different departments for a broader learning experience. However, this is usually dependent on the length of your stay. The longer you are in Sri Lanka, the more departments you can spend time in.

You have your own supervisor for the duration of your placement. They will ensure that you have the chance to learn as much as possible during your time abroad.

While your hospital placement is purely observational, you’ll have the chance to do help provide basic medical care during our regular outreaches.

Please note that you need to be at least 18 years old to do this internship. The programme runs throughout the year, and you can join whenever you want for a minimum of four weeks. We encourage you to stay longer to gain even more nursing work experience in Sri Lanka.

This project is also perfect for university medical and healthcare elective students. The real-world insight and knowledge you gain will help shape you as a future medical professional. You will also learn to work with different people and get a broader perspective of global healthcare systems and issues. This benefits your career for years to come. We can organise a placement that meets all of your university’s requirements.

Read more about how we organise healthcare electives.

The aim of this project is to provide interns with an educational work experience.

Many of our interns do not have previous medical experience, but are very eager to learn. Our goal is to facilitate the cross-cultural exchange of knowledge. You’ll observe skilled local nurses, while sharing your own experiences. It’s an excellent way to gain insight into healthcare practice in a developing country. You’ll also learn about prevalent diseases in the area, and how they’re diagnosed and treated.

This project also works to benefit the local community. Due to a lack of education or resources, many people die from preventable diseases resulting from poor hygiene practices. Changes in lifestyle and diet mean that non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and heart disease are on the rise. You’ll help change this by participating in outreaches and running educational campaigns to raise awareness.

We run regular community outreaches with all our healthcare interns. With your help, we aim to achieve the following in Sri Lanka:

• Promote awareness of non-communicable diseases
• Improve access to basic healthcare for disadvantaged groups
• Improve hygiene standards
• Reduce the number of cases of Dengue fever

Whether you’re doing health checks or sharing knowledge about preventing Dengue fever, your work is part of our efforts to help improve healthcare in Sri Lanka.

After enjoying breakfast with your host family, you’ll travel to the hospital where you’ll be working, either by bus or rickshaw. On your first day, our staff will accompany you to show the way.

On this internship, you will work from Monday to Friday. Working hours will vary, but generally you will work from 8.30am – 12.30pm, with a two hour break for lunch. Your afternoon shift will run from 2pm – 4pm.

You will shadow local doctors and nurses on their rounds throughout your day. We also run medical workshops once a month. These workshops are a great way for you to to learn more about healthcare practices in Sri Lanka.They’re run by a local doctor, and focus on common medical issues in the area. This is another opportunity for you to ask questions and get clarification about things you’ve observed at the hospital.

Once a month, you will break away from your regular schedule to take part in a medical outreach. You’ll do practical health checks here.

Once your shift or outreach is over, you’ll have the chance to relax and explore. Go out for dinner with your fellow interns and talk about what you’ve done over a plate of curry. Admire the beautiful architecture, watch a cricket match at a local stadium, and wander through the bustling markets.