Medical Elective

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Are you a 4th/5th year medical student who speaks a high proficiency of Spanish? We need doctors and medical students to come help us in Lobitos to provide healthcare to the local community in northern Peru.

The precarious socioeconomic and environmental conditions in Lobitos and Talara (the closest city to Lobitos) mean that the local population is exposed to a range of health problems. These include respiratory problems, infections, viruses such as zika, dengue, flu and chikungunya along with birth control and sanitation issues. Despite this, the medical post in Lobitos is not functioning to capacity and the hospital in Talara is greatly understaffed, which leads to demands for medical help and attention not being met. Additionally, there is a severe lack of public health awareness, therefore perpetuating health issues within families.

As a result, we have established a cooperative Medical Elective programme alongside the Lobitos medical post and the hospital in Talara in order to combat these issues. As part of this, medical students and/or professionals volunteer for EcoSwell supporting the understaffed hospital in Talara in the following specialities: Respiratory, Pediatrics, Gynecology and Dermatology. As part of this placement volunteers also design and implement public health educational initiatives in Lobitos for the local population in relation to the identified challenges. Additionally, there is a bursary available to contribute towards the financial contribution required by the applicant and to cover medical equipment which will be bought for the community.

For this position we require applicants to have at least an intermediate to advanced level of Spanish, and to be either in their last year of their medical degree or to be qualified doctors. Good team working skills, an open mind, positiveness and adaptability will be essential traits that the candidate will need to have.

A typical work day will usually be 9am-6pm (with a lunch break) five days a week and plenty of free time at weekends and in the evenings to go surfing, fishing, swimming with turtles or simply watching the sunset on the beach. Medical Elective interns will be supported by the EcoSwell staff, members of the Lobitos health post and doctors from Talara’s hospital during these activities. Volunteers will need to spend at least one month with us, time in which they will spend half of their placement in Talara helping at the hospital under the supervision of a local doctor and the second half, carrying out the public health educational initiatives in Lobitos. Regular updates on progress via Skype with EcoSwell’s UK based doctor will also take place. All accommodation and fresh, healthy food is included in the financial contribution.