Completing your medical internship abroad will be an amazing experience to travel and immerse yourself in another culture, all while taking steps to better prepare for your career and strengthen your resume. This will make you a more competitive medical-school and job candidate and make you stand out from your peers. Plus, you will have the opportunity to meet and form connections with new people and help provide care for local communities- no matter which country you choose.
The “best” country for completing an international medical internship really depends on who’s asking the question! Each country and internship will provide unique cultural and educational experiences that will affect each person differently based on their interests, internship goals, and skillset.
Let’s dive deeper into the factors that you should consider in selecting the country in which to complete your international internship.
You should factor the type of environment, cultural experience, and program mission that you have for yourself into the country that you choose.
Hate the heat? Want to experience a tropical environment?
These are things that you should consider before choosing a program in an environment vastly different from your own. You will have to make a huge adjustment regardless, both culturally and environmentally, but you want to be sure that this is one that you are prepared and willing to make.
The immersive cultural experience will also have a large impact on your program outcome. You will have to decide if you want to work in a fast-paced urban environment, quiet rural project, or something in between.
You should also take the time to learn about the cultural norms and traditions of the countries you are considering to make sure they’re something you are prepared to adapt to.
The countries you should consider will also change depending on if your goal is to:
Developing countries will have much more options for humanitarian missions, allowing you to work with underserved communities and hospitals with a lack of resources and staff. Larger countries with highly populated cities will give you the opportunity to learn to adapt quickly in a fast-paced environment.
This, in combination with the experience you desire, will help our staff to place you in the internship that is best fit for you. It can be helpful in ensuring that you have a positive internship experience that you seek out countries that have opportunities for, or are in need of the services that you have the skillset to provide.
Different countries may have varying degrees of opportunity for each sector of healthcare specialization. For example, developing countries have a higher need for disease prevention, such as community health outreach and education, and treatment of advanced or diverse diseases. There may be more opportunities for specific specializations to hone in on the area you want to work in larger hospitals with more resources. You’ll want to determine what your professional goals are for your internship, and what location will give you the opportunities to pursue the outcome that you desire.
At RealStep, we offer a variety of medical internships abroad in many of the top locations for impactful medical internships! Here are a few of those locations:
India is a great choice for your international undergraduate medical internship because it has a very large population in need of medical care and urban areas where hospitals and clinics see a high volume of patients. This gives ample opportunity for maximizing your experience and hands-on education and opportunity for specialization of your desire. You will get the opportunity to work with a variety of medical conditions and diseases that give you new learning opportunities. This will also allow you to work with underserved communities dealing with large healthcare disparities. Students will also get to learn about alternative and traditional medical practices.
Nepal may be the country best fit for your undergraduate medical internship if you are interested in public health and community health outreach programs. There is a large need for these initiatives, especially in rural communities that struggle with access to adequate healthcare and disease as a result of natural disaster. There is also opportunity for clinical work at the hospitals in these rural areas.
Completing your undergraduate internship in Tanzania gives you the opportunity to work in hospitals with limited access to resources and to help rural communities that are in need of medical care. There are opportunities to focus in many sectors of patient care because of the demand for healthcare, and working to assist underserved communities will add meaning to your internship.
Completing your undergraduate medical internship in Peru is a wonderful destination for a meaningful internship because many of the rural communities have very limited access to medical services, and interns will get to learn about traditional medicine practices. This destination also gives students with spanish language skills to communicate directly with patients and community members, which will vastly improve your integration into the community, and allow for many additional educational opportunities.
Spain is an amazing choice for those interested in working with universal healthcare and advanced technology, and in a healthcare system that focuses on public health and prevention. These public hospitals are often overcrowded and have a high volume of patients, and many patients deal with multicultural challenges due to the high number of refugee and immigrant populations in Spain, so interns will be able to make a meaningful difference. Spain also has an opportunity for language immersion for Spanish-speaking students, which will add meaning and community connection for interns.
Germany has one of the most advanced medical systems in Europe, with high amounts of funding, sharp technology, and many opportunities for clinical research projects. Germany is a top choice for students looking to learn in a high-tech setting, or are interested in clinical research. Germany has a high elderly population, which gives interns interested in geriatric or palliative care meaningful internship opportunities.
The UK allows students without second-language skills to communicate with more patients and community members, which may ease anxieties for some students. The UK’s medical system is large and globally respected, and focuses on mental health awareness and preventive care in that sector, which is a great option for public health students as well.
At RealStep, we offer programs that cater to many popular types of medical internships abroad for undergraduate students. The international aspect of your internship will have unique educational benefits depending on which sector you choose!
Nursing is heavily based in interpersonal skills and requires tolerance of a large variety of situations. What better way to improve interpersonal skills and learn how to adapt to new situations than to complete your medical internship abroad? You will gain cultural awareness, learn improved flexibility, and improve your medical skills! There are many opportunities for clinical internships for nursing students internationally.
There are many opportunities internationally for community health outreach, education, and community health workshops. The work you will engage with in an international preventive care internship will be able to have a great impact on the community in which you work. Each country will have unique needs for the focus of preventive care and outreach, so you will learn how to navigate community health priorities in a cross-cultural setting and gain a deeper understanding of global health issues and how they can differently present themselves.
Medical internships abroad that give students the opportunity to learn from and observe alternative and traditional medicine will open your mind and give you a deeper understanding of global healthcare. Seeing how alternative care compliments and differs from modern medicine will give students insight and challenge your ideas about healthcare.
If you are preparing for medical school, you probably don’t have very much freedom in selecting your courseload. Completing an internship abroad will give you new experiences and insight into global medical systems and cultural differences in medical practice that will help you to stand out from your peers. The diverse ideas and understanding that you will gain will undoubtedly help you in your medical school journey.
Your physical therapy or kinesiology internship has the opportunity to be more expansive and enriching by completing it abroad! You will get to create rehabilitation plans and help patients while learning about different approaches and techniques across cultures.
Learn more about our medical internships at RealStep and select one of our amazing programs to enhance your value as a future medical professional! Each country and medical pathway will offer you wonderful cultural, interpersonal, and professional education, and our team will be there to assist you all along the way.
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