Medical Internships in Senegal

Interning abroad on a Medicine & Healthcare internship with Projects Abroad in Senegal, Western Africa, offers an excellent way to observe medical facilities in the developing world. As a Medicine & Healthcare intern in Senegal you will have the opportunity to see a wide range of medical and healthcare work experience in a variety of departments.

Medical internship in Senegal

All Medicine & Healthcare interns in Senegal work in St Louis’ second largest public hospital. The hospital has been open since 2000.
The hospital employs two doctors and six nurses. All interns live within a 30 minute journey of the hospital.

Interning on a Medicine & Healthcare Internship in Senegal

All Medicine & Healthcare interns in Senegal must have completed at least one year of medical school by the time they join this project. The hospital will request to see a copy of your résumé when you apply so each internship can be tailored to your level of experience and interests.

Interns on the medicine program in Senegal also need intermediate French. Most of the staff and patients do not speak English and it is vital that you can understand and communicate in French while you are interning in the hospital.

The hospital has two main departments - General Medicine and Maternity. Within General Medicine there is the opportunity to gain experience in the following areas: ENT, Obstetrics, Pediatrics, Gynecology, Microbiology, and Pathology. Your supervisor at the hospital, the Head Doctor, will then assign you to work with the local staff within the different areas available.

Facilities within the hospital are basic and treatments are sometimes not of the standard we would expect in the West. You should be prepared to see some shocking cases and try not to get emotionally involved with the patients. Your working hours will usually be decided on a weekly basis since the hospital is open twenty-four hours a day. However, you can usually arrange to have the weekends free.