Medical Internships in Africa

Are you a health care professional or student looking to gain valuable experience in global health care? Join one of our Medical Internship Programs in Africa! These incredible internships will take you into the heart of public health systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, where you’ll gain invaluable work experience as you make a tangible positive impact on local communities. Here’s everything you’ll need to know before joining us!

Why Africa?

Health care systems in Africa, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, are struggling. Poor infrastructure, underfunding towards hospitals, and a lack of trained health care professionals make delivering essential care to patients in local communities challenging. Beyond issues in health care systems, a wide range of social determinants impairs many residents’ ability to access the quality care they desperately need.

Why join a Medical Internship in Africa?

As a medical intern, you’ll work with incredible health care professionals in rural Africa communities to expand the reach and quality of health care for locals. These internships offer excellent opportunities to gain professional experience in a global health setting, delivering patient care in various environments. Each internship program is highly customizable to the intern’s discipline of interest, allowing interns to make an impact and gain experience in a diverse range of medical fields.

In the past, we’ve had interns work with doctors in departments such as primary care, HIV/AIDS counselling, ICU, and even assist in operating theatres. Alternatively, interns can choose to participate in a more research-focused role, running community workshops and focus groups, discovering ways to improve the public health system in a rural community. Whether you intern in a primary care setting or conduct innovative research for public health systems, your work during your internship will create sustainable and tangible impacts on a local community!

Internship program fees

Our medical internships start at $2170 for four weeks and increase depending on your placement length and the program you join. These costs cover your accommodation, meals, airport transportation, training and 24/7 full support from our staff throughout your internship.

African Impact Sustainability Fund

As a commitment to sustainable development in the communities we work in, all volunteers pay an additional £20 to the African Impact Sustainability Fund. This money goes directly to the African Impact Foundation, which independently ensures the sustainability of our projects in local communities and guarantees impacts continue long after volunteers leave. Learn more about the African Impact Sustainability Fund.

To intern in medicine with us, we require some previous experience and education in healthcare. However, we cater to various levels and are passionate about placing our interns in environments that allow them to thrive!

In the past, we’ve welcomed everyone from medical students, undergraduates studying health care degrees, nursing school graduates, and full-time health care workers looking to make an impact in global health. Before you begin your internship, we’ll assign you to a health care setting that best suits your experience, skills, education, interests and the needs of the local community.

Additionally, as part of our commitment to safeguarding African communities’ safety and well-being, we require all interns to submit a criminal background check before arriving in Africa. This policy is firm and deeply entrenched in our stance on Responsible Volunteering and our Child Protection Policy. 

Absolutely!

We regularly welcome undergraduates and graduates who have yet to complete their degrees. Whether you are a nursing student, in the middle of your residency program or just beginning your college degree, we can find the perfect internship position for you!

Joining a health care internship is a life-changing experience. Gaining invaluable theoretical and practical knowledge in global health systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, you’ll walk away from your internship with a deeper understanding of public health, developed skills in your specialty, and a more open-minded individual.

Our internships offer interns various opportunities to customize their experience to meet their personal and professional goals best. Here are a few of the medical project areas you can focus on during your African Impact internship.

Hospital and clinical care

Our Hospital-Based Internships are an incredible experience for anyone looking for practical skills training in a global health setting. Working in a hospital in a rural African community, interns have the opportunity to explore a variety of departments or focus on a single specialty!

We’ve had interns focus on critical care, obstetrics, gynecology, emergency care, radiology, oncology, anesthetics, surgical departments, and many other unique specialties! In your department, you’ll work closely with local doctors and nurses who will share valuable knowledge for applying health care techniques in a diverse range of settings. Here, you’ll develop a deeper understanding of global health systems, gain useful skills, and make a tangible impact on the lives of your patients.

Community health education

One of the most sustainable ways to improve health in a community is through health education. During your internship, you’ll have the option to lead health education workshops that aim to empower local communities to discover sustainable solutions to the health issues they are facing. Through teaching preventative medicine and leading community discussion in support groups, these workshops are an incredible way to work together with locals to support one another and promote the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle!

Public health research

If you are keen to take on a research-focused internship, join our Public Health Internship in Zambia! Running community workshops, you’ll work with locals to discuss the intersection of public health issues with social issues in a community, such as a gender inequality, environmental justice, and economic development.

Using social research techniques, you’ll discover opportunities for innovative change in local health systems and ways to expand health coverage to often overlooked groups. This internship is an exciting opportunity to deepen your understanding of global health determinants and make a sustainable impact on improving rural health systems.

As an African-based company, we live and breathe high-impact African volunteer and intern experiences. We are passionate about providing medical internships that offer interns practical work experience, life-changing learning opportunities, and immersive African travel adventures.

These aren’t your typical coffee-fetching internships. We’ll take you into the heart of global health in Africa, where life-changing opportunities for impact lie around every corner. Providing three on-ground supports throughout your placement, including a Trained Expert in your field, a Professional Development Coach, and an Academic Trainer, you’ll receive all the support you need to have the experience of a lifetime.

Additionally, we are committed to making real, sustainable impacts in every community in which we operate. We don’t believe volunteering should merely create short-term benefits for locals. Sustainable development is at the heart of what we do and deeply ingrained in our medical internship programs. When you join us, you can be confident that you are not only gaining life-changing work experience abroad but are making a real impact on your placement community by doing so!

Yes! We carefully design each internship to ensure interns are safe and comfortable throughout their entire placement. If you are curious to learn more about our safety protocols, please visit our Safety Tips.

Have further questions? We’d be happy to answer any inquires you may. Click here to get in touch!

If you are keen to join one of our medical internship programs, browse our program pages above to learn more.

If you find an internship that you are eager to join, you can scroll to the bottom of the page to choose your dates and apply! One of our Destination Specialists will be in touch to answer any additional questions you may have and get you set up for your epic intern adventure.

We can’t wait for you to join us!