Healthcare for Pre-Med, Pre-nursing, Medical, nursing and pharmacy students and professionals
With greater efforts to improve health service delivery, especially the health of women and children, an emphasis is placed on improving the quality of reproductive health services and on preventing and reducing the impact of widespread communicable diseases, bridging gaps that prevent efficient and effective delivery of health services, and fostering partnerships that lead to improved health in Africa. Government and non-governmental organizations run a number of different health facilities, hospitals, maternity clinics, children's hospitals, HIV/AIDS wards, and alternative-medicine clinics in many cities and small rural villages.
In the health project, volunteers support the local doctors and nurses. Work ranges from observational to basic assistance, depending on level of knowledge, experience, and skill. As a volunteer you can work with a health center within a local community by observing and assisting with a local medical practice. Access to basic healthcare is often one of the most challenging issues that low-income and neglected populations face. Community level intervention and local health clinics offer services to local families at minimal or no cost. With the introduction of a medical insurance in Ghana, attendance to healthcare facilities have skyrocketted making the support of volunteers indispensible. Working on health projects offers a wonderful opportunity for volunteers to become familiar with the challenges and health issues of developing countries.
Health care professionals, students, and non professionals are needed at the small village clinics. The working conditions may not be what you are used to. The equipment is quite basic and the amount and variety of medicines are very limited. Volunteers record attendance, patient history, temperatures, perform patient examinations, provide pre-natal care, assist in deliveries, offer education to clinic patients and community groups on ways of preventing diseases affecting them most. Examples might be how to treat an unsafe water before use, how to prepare a balanced and healthy meal, the practice of hygiene, etc. If you are a medical doctor, nurse medical student, nursing student or pre-med student, your assistance is highly needed.
Under the healthcare program, volunteers are stationed at local health centers. The health center might be manned by a qualified and trained doctor, medical assistant or nurse with the support of one or two ward assistants. Surgeries and deliveries are done at all these centers but major surgeries are limited to the listed hospitals.
Volunteer's responsibilities
- Taking care of patients reporting for out-patient care or on admission
- Changing bandages and monitoring recovery
- Checking blood pressure
- Distributing foods
- Weighing babies
- Helping with first aid treatment
- Observing the expert in diagnosing a patient
- Recommending treatment
- Performing minor, major or specialist surgeries, etc. Many healthcare centers also run different programs on health education, basic prevention, nutrition, and sanitation. Volunteer job might cover these areas
- To compliment the effort of stakeholders to send proper improved basic healthcare to poor in their own communities as a policy of mitigating poverty.
- To offer health care and education as the basis for improving the livelihood of the underprivileged communities
- To offer staff support to the insufficient staffs of the rural healthcare.
- To offer traditional healthcare providers an improvement in their health delivery to efficiently support the modern ones.
- To offer volunteers an opportunity to discover practical and innovative healthcare practice and first aid application with little or no resources.
- To create a bond between the volunteer and the local community or healthcenter so that in the near future, the volunteer can return to assist in a higher capacity when knowledge or resources has grown for the volunteer
- To promote cross cultural understanding.
Program Duration and Dates Program is opened to volunteers all year round. Volunteers can spend from two weeks to six months on the program. A night in the capital upon arrival (sometimes due to problems like your luggage being left behind by the airline, staying in Accra and Nairobi may be go beyond a day), orientation by Elghana to offer volunteers education on the culture, traditions and sensitivities of the people in the community of work, basic local language syllabus and how to go about things in the community in terms of food, water, socialization, etc. The pre-departure information will be enough an orientation for participants who intend to spend a month or less on a placement
How will you benefit from volunteering in this program?
- You will discover more about yourself which will definitely help you in making many vital decisions
- You will experience a true and pure culture of a different kind in this same world
- You will enhance on your knowledge on life, society, politics and problem solving skills and approach.
- You will learn and acquire innovative and new skills of health delivery and first aid.
- You will be proud of yourself for doing something very positive in your own means to change the life of someone.
- It shall be such a great adventure and break helping you know what you are capable of in straineous or disaster conditions
- Another opportunity to find a lifetime friend very far away from home and with a different perspective of life which offer us some good at times, especially when we want somebody to speak to about problems and ideas for solutions.