Health Program / Internship

  Nepal

• Kathmandu: 
Kathmandu
• Pokhara: 
Pokhara

Term: Throughout the year 
Durations of Program: 1-2 weeks, 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks, 9-12 weeks and 3-6 months
Typical Duration of Program: 5-8 weeks
Dates: anytime

Description: Health Program

VSSN aims to mobilize volunteers with health backgrounds in rural places where people do not have access to any health institute, as the government is not able to provide adequate health services. On the other hand, rural Nepali people are often reluctant to go to the hospital and other modern health services because of orthodox thinking, superstition, and other cultural influences. Some Nepali people may visit a witchdoctor when they are suffering from an illness, so they sometimes die without getting the benefit of modern medication. VSSN is playing an active role in linking those rural people with those around the world and within the country who are really eager to serve the many needy people in Nepal's rural areas.

VSSN welcomes all the interested medical students, individuals, professionals, organizations, associations and other groups to join the health programme.

VSSN Nepal categorizes Health Program in three settings:

(1) Health Camp

In this program medical personnel will be deployed to work in health camps for a predetermined amount of time: 1 day to 10 days. Volunteers will work with their Nepali counterparts, who assist both Nepali and foreign volunteers. Volunteer responsibilities are to distribute medicine and consult with citizens about health care, thereby raising the awareness of health and sanitation throughout the rural communities.

(2) Health Institute

In this program volunteers will be assigned to sub-health posts, hospitals, and other health institutions, either being run by the government or a local community, in both rural and urban settings. Volunteers will work with health assistants, doctors, nurses, or some combination there within. They will work daily, 3 to 5 hours, for 6 days a week.

(3) Teaching Health and Sanitation

In this program volunteers will mainly be involved in working with the youth clubs, women's groups, and other local organizations, teaching them about proper health and sanitation. In addition, volunteers will provide First-Aid information to the local people in rural villages, thereby providing them with a practical and sustainable life-skill. Similar educational lectures will be given to children, by volunteers, in government schools, lasting from several days to a week in duration. Again, the volunteers' major focus will be to educate and mobilize community groups who can then pass the information onto the community at large. We prefer medical students for this program; however, we do accept other applicants, provided they have some experience in this area.

Highlights: Medical Internship:

Volunteer Service and Support Nepal(VSSN) and Teaching Health post jointly offer a Medical internship programme for health students and personnel from all over the world.

Interested individuals may take part in this program from two weeks to 5 months.

They can be involved in following activities:

Health Post Based Activities

1. General daily clinic
2. MCH

- Family planning (Temporary devices)
- Immunization
- Ante-natal and post natal clinics
- Health education
- Health post based normal deliveries
- Immunization

3. Pharmacy
4. Simple surgeries
5. Community oral health Clinic
6. Nutritional Rehabilitation center
7. Health Post based nutrition follow up
8. Community medical insurance scheme
9. TB Clinic

Community Based Activities:

- Home based nutrition follow up
- Community health education activities
- School health education activities
- Normal home deliveries on demand
- TBA's involvement in community health education
- Traditional Healers?Einvolvement in community health education

Training and On-the-job Placement Activities

- TBA training
- Traditional Healers?Etraining
- TB tracers?Etraining
- Female Community Health Volunteers Training
- First Aid Training to school children and students
- On-the-job placement for paramedical students (Health Assistants, Community Medical Auxiliaries, Auxiliary Nurse Midwives, Staff Nurses, Undergraduate and graduate medical students, Public Heath students etc.

Services

1. Maternal And Child Health Care

- Immunization
- Under 5 health screening
- Antenatal care
- Postnatal care
- Normal home and health post based delivery
- Identification and referral of high risk pregnancy

2. Family Planning Services

- DMPA
- COC Pills
- Norplant
- Condom distribution

3. General OPD Services

- General clinic
- Pharmacy
- Dressing and injection
- Minor surgery

4. TB dots clinic

- Identification
- Counseling
- Treatment
- Follow up
- Defaulter Tracing

5. Community mental Health clinic

- Identification
- Counseling
- Treatment
- Follow up
- Defaulter Tracing

6. Community oral Health Clinic

- Education on oral hygiene
- Manual scaling
- Temporary feeling
- Extraction
- Camps

7. Nutrition

- Home based follow up
- Heath post based follow up
- Nutrition rehabilitation center
- Direct rating scale

8. School health program

- Oral health camp
- Reproduction health and sexual education
- First aid training and FA box distribution

9. Community Training

- TBA Training
- Traditional Healer training

10. Teaching and learning practice for local and overseas students

- Nurses
- CMA
- ANM
- MBBS

11. Anti smoking program

Qualifications: English language is a must.

Minimum Education: High School

Cost in US$: 400US$ to 900US$

Experience Required: no

Typical Volunteer: Various volunteers from different background.

Age Range: 18 and above

This Program is open to American, Australian, Canadian, European, South African and World Wide Participants. This Program is also open to Families, Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel to Nepal Independently Or in Groups

Typically Participants Work Independently Or in Groups of 6 to 10

Application Process Involves:

• Resume
• Written Application

Volunteer Service and Support Nepal (VSSN)'s Mission Statement: Volunteer Service and Support Nepal (VSSN) is a non-profit organization, which has the sole purpose of providing the best service to the people who want to enjoy a great experience by working as a volunteer in Nepal. Volunteer Service and Support Nepal is an organization dedicated to providing year-round programs for international volunteers to interact in the development process by involving them in different activities which supports children and families, schools, orphanages, health centers and local clubs.

Year Founded: 2001