Choosing a destination
Your student will first speak with one of our Internship Consultants based in our Boston office. Our consultant will help the student make an informed decision regarding their clinical and destination interests.
As a school, you have control over which destinations your students travel to. You are welcome to tell us which countries you feel are most appropriate for your students’ development.
- Internships start every Sunday, 52 weeks of the year. This gives your students the flexibility to travel at an appropriate time that suits
- Internship durations start from 2 weeks to 8 weeks, but students are welcome to stay in the country as long as time permits
- Students can travel in groups, but are also welcome to travel solo as they will meet fellow students when they arrive
Group & Solo Travel
The majority of students who travel with us do so as part of a group. Most group travel arrangements are possible, but if you want to discuss more specific ways we’re able to accommodate groups of your students, please call us on +1 (617) 315 1412 or email us via [email protected]
We also regularly accommodate students who choose to travel solo.
Pre-departure support
As the students’ trip approaches, they will go through our comprehensive pre-departure preparation process.
The process is made up of a series of structured communications with a personal Internship Coordinator. Our Coordinators spend a significant amount of time in our partner hospitals every year. During these calls, your students will:
- Customize their experience based on their aims, interests and clinical competencies
- Get expert advice and administrative assistance with everything from entry visas to malpractice insurance
- Receive detailed information on the country and local culture
- Receive comprehensive briefings on local clinical practices and what to expect in the hospital
- Become fully prepared and confident before the trip
We customize every placement based on your students' aims, interests and clinical competencies. Once your students have settled on which departments they want to get experience in, we guarantee their choices. Whichever rotations they choose are the rotations they will experience in country.
MyTrip
Students also get access to MyTrip - their customized online internship planner. MyTrip has an interactive timeline that displays each preparatory step in the run up to their trip. The planner includes information about:
- Their placement hospitals
- The Work the World house
- Who their housemates will be
- Packing lists
- Advice on visas, travel/health insurance and malpractice insurance
- Language guides and videos
- Local cultural information
"The MyTrip planner was a wonderful tool to help keep you organized prior to your placement. It’s very easy to use and provides great information based on the destination you chose." — Kaylyn Briant, University of Regina
In-country support
When the student lands at the local airport, a member of our team will be waiting to meet them. Then, they will:
- Travel together to the Work the World house
- Meet the rest of the Work the World staff and housemates
- Eat a home-cooked welcome meal
- Receive a full welcome briefing
- Go on a full city orientation with the local team where they’ll learn...where to find all local amenities and the most reputable places to change money
- Get informal daily debriefs
- Get formal documented weekly debriefs
The in-country team exist to provide the student with 24/7 support as and when they need it. Students who exhibit greater independence have freedom to do so.
In-country team
We have a designated Program Manager in each of our destinations. They manage the rest of the local team and are responsible for every aspect of the students’ experience.
Each and every one of our Program Managers are exceptionally well qualified, with backgrounds in travel and tourism, healthcare, or both.
The Program Manager is a demanding role, so we only employ candidates of the highest caliber.
The Assistant Program Manager is the direct assistant to the Program Manager, and together they run our programs in-country. They both help forge and maintain the close hospital relationships that set us apart as an organization.
These relationships give us access to a breadth of hospital departments, allowing us to customize internships to each students’ goals.
This management team operates from offices found in each Work the World house. They are a familiar, friendly and reassuring presence for the students. The underlying goal of everything our management teams do is making sure the student has the most fulfilling experience possible.
A housekeeper keeps our houses clean and tidy, and the catering team cook breakfast and dinner every day.
"I was nervous about traveling alone to somewhere so far away, but knowing I was in good hands I always felt safe. There was always someone there to guide the way. The Work the World staff picked us up from the airport, took us to placement on our first day, and even took us on a tour of the local area." — Nicole Iacullo, Pennsylvania State University
Support in the placement hospital
Before the student’s placement starts, they receive a full hospital orientation. We do this so students can get a sense of the environment and meet the staff before their placement starts.
Each student also receives in-hospital supervision to help align them with local ethical considerations. For example, a supervisor can help ensure that any hands-on/practical involvement is at a level appropriate for the students’ experience. Click below to learn more.
OPTIONAL EXperiences
Village Healthcare Experiences
A Village Healthcare Experience will add invaluable perspective to the city-based internship. At the end of their internship, students can spend a week living in a rural village. In the mornings, they spend time in a local health outpost, learning the unique challenges local staff face while delivering care in a rural setting.
In the afternoons, they take part in activities like island hopping, swimming in waterfalls, and hiking to mountain temples with an official Work the World guide and interpreter.
Local Impact
The presence of our programs in our destinations creates jobs and directly contributes to the local economy. We pay rent to local landlords in all our houses (we also use local utility companies, and buy groceries from local shops), and make significant donations to local hospitals on a per-student basis.
Our placements run Monday to Friday, which allows your students to travel on weekends. They will use local transport, eat at local restaurants, and stay in local hotels, all of which contributes to the local economy.
We locally hire all our in-country teams and never outsource anything. This gives us complete control over every aspect of our service.
