Inexpensive Medical Internship in West Africa

This internship is ideal for anyone who wants to see medicine in practice. You’ll get first-hand experience of working in a hospital in a developing country.

You can use this internship to add work experience to your resume before applying to medical school. You can also talk about all you saw, learned, and how you overcame challenges during interviews or in application essays. It’s also a great way to explore different departments within a large hospital. This is especially useful if you’re a medical student deciding on a specialization.

Remember that you’ll be shadowing doctors and nurses in a busy medical environment. It’s important to be proactive, ask questions, and demonstrate initiative. This will ensure that you develop a good relationship with the staff, and that you learn as much as possible during your medical placement in Ghana. 

Our medical internship in Ghana runs throughout the year, and you can join at any time from a minimum of 2 weeks. We encourage you to stay longer, so you can see and learn more.

Working under the supervision of medical professionals, you will:

Join doctors and nurses on their daily patient rounds

You will shadow doctors and nurses on their daily rounds. They’ll teach you about Ghana’s prevalent diseases, their diagnoses, management, and treatment. You should be prepared to to encounter patients who suffer from diseases and conditions that you don’t see at home, such as Malaria and Typhoid.

During your time as a medical intern in Ghana, you’ll also spend some time in different departments of a large regional hospital. This will give you insight into various specializations and could help you choose your own later in your studies.

Do health checks during community outreaches

In Ghana, many rural and disadvantaged areas lack access to healthcare services. Most people cannot afford to travel to clinics or pay to see a doctor. We organize regular outreaches, where you get involved with tasks like:

• Treat wounds and ringworm infections at schools
• Do health checks in rural communities, focusing on measuring blood pressure and blood sugar levels, and run free malaria tests

This is important work, that gives you the chance to help others while learning and using basic medical skills.

Take part in health education campaigns

You will help us raise awareness about key healthcare issues around the country. We do this by holding talks in schools, care centers, or local communities. Typical topics will include:

• Good hygiene practices
• Malaria prevention
• Sexual education

Sexual education is critical, as this is still considered a taboo topic in many schools. You could also focus on healthy lifestyle choices to prevent illnesses like heart disease and diabetes.

There are many different departments available including:

Adolescent Counselling, Community Health Education, Dentistry, Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT), General surgery, Laboratory, Nursing, Maternity & Midwifery, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Ophthalmology, Paediatrics, Pharmacology, Physical Therapy, Physiotherapy, Prenatal, Psychology, Radiology, Ultrasound.

Participants are likely to have the opportunity to observe within more than one division. However, it is recommended that interns spend a minimum of one week per department.

During orientation, you will receive a full introduction to the hospital. A staff of OGVO will lead a tour around the whole institution, allowing you to become familiar with the hospital’s layout, and also meet staff members within each department.

Ghana is hot. It is always hot. What’s more, it's always humid. Humidity usually lingers between 95 and 100 percent. The rainy season lasts from mid-June to mid-November - sometimes. The rain provides a little respite from the intense heat, but temperatures will still be in the mid-80s Fahrenheit. The south of the country experiences the heaviest rainfall during September.

On any given day, you will work shifts alongside your supervisors. These shifts typically take the following form:

• Morning: 8am - 2pm
• Afternoon: 2pm - 8pm
• Night: 8pm - 8am

Each shift starts with rounds as you follow the consulting doctor and learn about each patient's case and course of treatment. Use this opportunity to ask plenty of questions. After rounds, you’ll assist nurses with patient care. You can watch them administer medication and treatment, and help to update patient files. Nurses always appreciate help in general patient care as well such as feeding, bathing, and bed changing.

Please note that hospitals in Ghana are often busiest in the mornings. Don’t be late for the morning shift if you'd like to witness the bulk of the day's work!

Afternoons are a great opportunity to get to know the staff and patients better.

Two days per week, you’ll join one of our community outreaches to assist with doing health checks.

During the hours you aren’t working, you’ll have free time to explore Ghana’s colorful culture and natural beauty with your fellow interns.

Since you will be living with a local host family, breakfast or dinners offer great opportunities to get to know them better and fully immerse yourself in their way of life.