Occupational Therapy in Cambodia

Are you working towards a career in occupational therapy? Do you enjoy working with children? Then our Occupational Therapy internship in Cambodia is for you.

You’ll learn practical skills alongside qualified medical staff and caregivers, which you can use this to enhance your studies. This internship adds great value to your CV, and gives you interesting points to talk about in applications and interviews. Your work in Cambodia also demonstrates your commitment to therapy, and your willingness to help those in need.

Our internship is open to occupational therapy students who have completed their first year of study. The project runs all year round, so you can join whenever you want. You can intern for a minimum of two weeks. We strongly recommend staying longer so you can have a bigger impact on the children.

This project is also perfect for qualified professionals. With your skills backing up our ongoing efforts, we can make an even bigger difference together. We’ll match you to the placement where your skills are needed most.

This means you can share your training and and knowledge with others. You can work hand-in-hand with our partner organisations and local communities to support sustainable development.

If you have relevant skills or qualifications, read more about how you can make use of them with Projects Abroad.

There are two main aims for our Occupational Therapy internship in Cambodia: to improve your skills, and to provide better quality care and additional support to the infants and children we work with.

You’ll work at a centre for infants and children with mental and physical disabilities. Many of these children were abandoned by their families because they were unable to care for them. The medical staff and caregivers at the centre provide them with care and a safe place to grow up in.

You’ll use your skills and training to support the children, and share knowledge with the local staff. Occupational therapy is not a widely recognised profession in Cambodia so you’ll need to be confident and proactive when working. Supporting local medical staff also means that more children will be able to receive treatment at the same time.

In Cambodia, we’re working toward four long-term goals in our Medicine & Healthcare Management Plan:

• Improve access to basic healthcare for disadvantaged groups
• Improve the quality of healthcare provided to patients
• Encourage an understanding of medical practices and promote an exchange of medical knowledge
• Improve hygiene standards

Join this internship in Cambodia and help us work towards these goals while improving your occupational therapy skills.

You’ll start each day with a Cambodian breakfast of fresh fruit, banana pancakes, and egg fried rice before grabbing a tuk tuk to your placement. Our staff will accompany you on your first day to show you the way, and introduce you to your new colleagues.

A typical day will start at 8am and end at 4pm, Monday to Friday. You’ll get a long break between 11am-1pm where you’ll head back to your shared apartment for lunch. Alternatively, you can pack a lunch, and spend time going over the children’s medical files during your break.

Each morning, you’ll go over the plans for the day with your project supervisor. Your main focus will be to help with the assessment and treatment of patients at the centre. The infants and children have varying degrees of disability. Many of them have been diagnosed with cerebral palsy or autism.

You’ll help with individualized exercise plans, progress monitoring, and updating patient files. You’ll spend an hour with each patient before moving on to the next.

In your free time, you can grab dinner at one of the many restaurants dotting the main street. You can plan weekend trips with the other interns and really make the most of your stay in Cambodia.