The nursing internship in Thailand takes place around Surin, in a health clinic. This project welcomes participants from all over the world, including medical students and healthcare professionals. You will work alongside specialists to contribute to the smooth running of the clinic, providing you with field experience and practical skills. This is an ideal opportunity to gain university credits and join a community project, having a positive impact on the local population.
This nursing internship in Thailand offers field experience to health care professionals or young people who wish to pursue a career in the medical sector. Trainees diagnose and treat impoverished communities, and educate them about diseases and prevention methods.
Since January 2015, several groups of students from prestigious medical schools across Europe have chosen to do their nursing internship in Thailand at a medical clinic set up by our partner NGO in Surin .
Like all of our nursing and medical internship programs abroad, this project in Thailand allows students to gain university credits while acquiring field experience, and contributing to the UN's goal of universal access to healthcare.
Since the clinic's activity depends mainly on the number of patients admitted each day, the host organisation and local coordinators have set up paramedic activities to broaden the trainees' scope of work and ensure their regular involvement in a variety of activities. Assignments may include:
- Hygiene and sickness prevention workshops in local schools.
- Improvements and renovations to local schools and clinics to improve hygiene.
- Medical visits in the villages (at home).
- Visit local clinics requiring temporary staff.
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These tasks will not only allow the interns to work closely with local communities but also to contribute, as a team, to long-term development projects for the general improvement of hygiene conditions in rural areas.
Because it immerses you in the heart of the health sector in a rural Thai community, our medical volunteer program is perfect for students and health professionals. This is a field experience, supervised by our team who will organise your daily schedule and answer your questions.
As a volunteer, you will learn how important care is in these rural areas of Thailand and gain a better understanding of the medical standards of the Thai system. Because hospitals and clinics in these rural areas are very often under-equipped, you may be seeing patients with very advanced illnesses. Working in these communities, you will not only be able to diagnose and treat diseases but also participate in preventative information sessions to discourage unsafe practices.
- Healthcare professionals: more hands-on approach, active participation in patient treatment.
- Nursing and medical students: learning program to acquire new skills and knowledge from other volunteers and local health care staff.
There are no inpatients, it is a health center in a rural area that offers outpatient consultations to local people. The clinic treats a wide range of conditions: diabetes, hypertension, injuries or skin infections. All the medical center staff (doctors and nurses) are fully qualified to administer medical care in Thailand. Their role is to diagnose health problems and treat pathologies of the local population.
The patients: mostly rural people, working in rice cultivation. All ages are represented and some patients may be very old.
Health problems are mostly related to agricultural work: hypertension, diabetes, depression, flu, cuts, etc.
Care: the care is adapted to each case and conforms with advice from the Thai Ministry of Health (public medical center), however, volunteers also enjoy observing our traditional herbal medicine service.
Example of a typical day for a volunteer (Monday to Thursday)
- 8:00 am: Set off to the clinic.
- 9:00 am: Meet the doctors and nurses to review the day and begin consultations.
- 11:30 am: Lunch break.
- 12:30 pm: Continue consultations at the clinic or home visit for the most distant patients.
- 3:00 pm: Debriefing with the doctors and nurses. Discuss what resources are needed for the next day.
- Evening: Rest and participate in evening activities.
The clinic is located 25km from Surin, the coordinators drive the students every day (there and back) and accompany them on the project. The nursing internship in Thailand takes place from Monday to Thursday, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are free.
Originally, it was a tour operator with expertise in the destination that organised trips for young people, something they still do alongside the volunteer projects.
Then the founder, conscious that the rural communities and Burmese refugees lacked access to education or sanitary facilities, created a foundation to set up humanitarian missions in the most disadvantaged areas of Thailand. The construction projects started in the refugee villages on the Burmese border, then their humanitarian missions also developed in the Surin region, on the border with Cambodia.
Since 2002, the organization has welcomed more than 6,000 travelers and volunteers in Thailand. They employ more than 30 people in Thailand, 25 of whom are Thai nationals from the regions where the projects are located.
Our host organization in Thailand is registered with the Tourism Authority of Thailand and recommended by the Responsible Travel Group.
