International Service-Learning Sites

INMED International Service-Learning is a preceptor-led, teaching-learning experience that earns academic credit. Service-Learning strengthens student’s critical thinking skills as they engage in experiential healthcare activities that are aligned with the academic program’s competency objectives. At the same time, local community members also benefit from assistance that may otherwise not be available.

INMED cooperates with health facilities to provide INMED learners with exceptional educational experiences. Partnership is established with attention to physical safety, accessibility, service opportunities, reliability of communications, and the evaluations of preceptors and former students. The following INMED International Service-Learning Sites for International Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health are most commonly utilized. Additional sites are constantly being assessed. Click on the Site names below for more details.

Download the Service-Learning Syllabus here.

NOTE: Not all sites are available or ideally suited to all learners. INMED will assist applicants in selecting an optimum location.

Angola – CEML Hospital

Angola, southern Africa, is a geographically beautiful country, yet scene to some of the greatest human needs on earth. CEML Hospital is one of the latest efforts to improve the lives of Angolans. Current services include a busy out patient clinic, ophthalmology care, and general surgery. The new 80-bed hospital features state of the art facilities for the developing world.

Students work under the direction of Steve Foster, a board-certified Canadian surgeon with thirty years experience in Angola. They participate in the full range of medical services at CEML Hospital, with additional work at the 200 bed Kalukembe Hospital. Functionality in Portuguese or Spanish is useful in this setting, but not required.

Bangladesh - Memorial Christian Hospital

Memorial Christian Hospital, also known as Malumghat Hospital Project, includes a new, 120-bed hospital founded in 1966 by legendary surgeon Viggo Olsen. Today MCH offers general medical, surgical and obstetrical care, and a newborn nursery. The site also boasts strong departments in physiotherapy, prosthetics, community health, and the Memorial Christian College of Health Sciences, which prepares national healthcare providers.

MCH regularly receives healthcare profession students and resident physicians from North America in an environment where the staff is strongly committed to teaching. A typical day includes hospital rounds, a tea break, and scheduled surgeries and procedures. Translation is available for non-English speaking patients. Weekend travel options include Cox’s Bazar – the world’s longest natural sea beach.

Cameroon - Banso Hospital

Cameroon is a central African nation, and home to one of the most innovative and sustained health ministries on the continent. Banso Baptist Hospital is a full-service institution providing surgical, obstetric, pediatric, and outpatient services. They also host a nursing school, a network of clinics, an HIV management program and a surgical residency.

Students find that Banso Baptist Hospital provide them an intense, hands-on medical care experience. Supervision is provided by four American physicians, in association with their Cameroonian colleagues. Surgical procedures, deliveries, and inpatient care responsibilities, coupled with the opportunity to sample the culture of this diverse nation, help to make Cameroon the medical educational highlight of many young physicians.

China - Liaoning International General Health Trainers*

Shenyang, in northeastern China, is home to one of that country’s first family medicine residencies. Visiting medical students and residents assist an American family physician and Chinese residents from the Chinese Medical University in serving the medical needs of local citizens. Medical care is provided at two urban outpatient clinics, a 100-child orphanage, and several rural sites in nearby areas.

Visitors serving with LIGHT will be able to communicate adequately in English, given that all the LIGHT physicians speak English, as does most of the staff. In addition to medical service, visitors to Shenyang can enjoy its numerous famous attractions, including the Imperial Palace, Zhao Ling Tomb, Fu Ling Tomb, the Water Caves, a botanical garden, and several scenic mountain sites.

Ethiopia - Soddo Christian Hospital

Located in the most populated and impoverished area in Ethiopia, northeastern Africa, this facility offers medical care to communities that live largely by subsistence farming. The region is geographically beautiful, over looking the Rift Valley. English is spoken by the hospital staff and by most all educated Ethiopians. Given the large number of local languages, translation is routinely required and translators are readily available.

Education is a focal point at Soddo Christian Hospital, with active surgery and ophthalmology training programs. African general surgery residents participate in the PAACS residency program on site. The hospital is also a training site for the associated Siloam Nursing School. Visiting students and resident physicians participate in the full range of services provided, with supervision and responsibilities proportionate to their skills.

Ghana - Ankaase Methodist Hospital

People coming to this rural hospital are usually impoverished, and suffer from malaria, malnutrition, pneumonia, tropical ulcers, typhoid fever, inguinal hernias, pregnancy complications, schistosomiasis, hypertension and anemia. HIV is also a constant concern. Ankaase Methodist Hospital provides innovative care that includes not only hospital services, but also a renutrition center for malnourished children, literacy classes, and care for persons living with HIV/AIDS.

Several American and European healthcare profession students and resident physicians come to Ankaase Hospital each year where they are mentored by Ghanaian national staff. Clinical responsibilities will normally include outpatient clinic, inpatient care, obstetrics, pediatrics, and surgery. Public health and HIV care opportunities are also available. Students are quite welcome and are provided constant supervision.

Ghana - Baptist Medical Center

The rural community of Nalerigu, northern Ghana, West Africa, is home to the Baptist Medical Center. 400-500 outpatients are seen in each clinic, and the hospital of 120 beds usually runs at over capacity. People coming to Baptist Medical Center are often impoverished. Some of the most common medical problems encountered are malaria, malnutrition, pneumonia, tropical ulcers, hypertension and anemia.

The medical staff of Baptist Medical Center consists of two to three full time American physicians. In addition, a number of other American physicians visit for short periods each year. English is the spoken language of Ghana. The Center also supports a public health ministry that sponsors rural clinics where villagers receive immunizations, health teaching, prenatal clinics and under five clinics.

Ghana - Wenchi Methodist Hospital

This city-based hospital in west-central Ghana cares for people most commonly suffering from malaria, malnutrition, pneumonia, hepatitis, tropical ulcers, typhoid fever, pregnancy complications, schistosomiasis, hypertension and anemia. Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) is available for HIV infected individuals, as well as Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission (PMTCT) prophylactic medication. Wenchi Methodist Hospital is also a referral center for traditional birth attendants and for 18 outpatient health facilities.

Several American and European healthcare profession students come to Wenchi Hospital each year where they are mentored by Ghanaian national staff in medicine and HIV care. Clinical responsibilities will depend upon the student’s interest, and will normally include outpatient clinic, inpatient care, obstetrics, pediatrics, and surgery. Public health and HIV care opportunities are also available. Students are quite welcome and are constantly provided supervision.

Haiti - Haiti Health Ministries

The clinic serves indigent people in the beautiful, rural, rugged mountainous region west of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Dr. Jim Wilkins and his team provide outpatient care with the support of laboratory, pharmacy, sonography, and radiology expertise. Patients are cared for regardless of their ability to pay. The Clinic also provides patient education and training of national medical workers.

The Clinic regularly receives healthcare profession students and resident physicians. They begin by shadowing clinicians, and then advance to caring for patients on their own, checking out each patient encounter with a staff member. Clinics usually begin with a 30-minute educational session, and students receive considerable hands-on experience. Participation in community health activities is also available.

Honduras - Clinica Esperanza

The clinic is located on Roatan, one of the Bay Islands, just north of the Honduras mainland. Despite its remarkable beaches and beautiful weather, many residents live in sustained poverty and suffer from common chronic diseases, as well as from malaria, dengue, intestinal parasites, malnutrition and sexually transmitted illnesses. Roatan’s preexisting medical care system consists only of overburdened government facilities that lack the most basic resources.

Clinica Esperanza’s vision is to provide the finest medical care possible to all Roatan residents, regardless of income status. The clinic was launched in 2001 and now performs over 1,000 consultations a month. The clinic is also progressively adding additional services, including laboratory, ultrasound and minor procedures. Medical education is a high priority at Clinica Esperanza, with supervision provided by both American and Honduran physicians and nurses.

Honduras - Clinica Evangelica Morava

This medical ministry serves the indigenous Miskito people of eastern Honduras via an active outpatient service and a public health program that focuses on prenatal care, midwife education, nutrition, vaccination, and HIV detection and prevention. The hospital averages about 10-20 inpatients, and provides obstetrics care and general surgery. The goal is excellent, compassionate care in the context of spiritual support and limited resources.

Students must be able to function independently in Spanish, and will participate in the full array of clinical services. Clinica Evangelica Morava’s three full-time physicians complement each other with their skills and experience, and offer learners insights into the relationships between health in its social and cultural context. More than one hundred medical students and residents have worked at Clinica Morava since it was opened in about 1950.

Honduras - Hospital Loma de Luz

This full-service hospital is located along the northern coast of Honduras and serves a community characterized by the full range of diseases of poverty. Medical care is provided by a largely American staff and includes outpatient consultations, inpatient care, general surgery, obstetrical and ophthalmology services. Students and volunteers must be able to function independently in Spanish.

Hospital Loma de Luz is very interested in sharing their vision and experience with healthcare professional students, who are invited to participate in the full scope of activities. Assigned roles and responsibilities will be in proportion to a student’s skill, with provision of full supervision. Students will especially appreciate the opportunity to observe how the local culture, behavior and economy influence physical health.

India - Bangalore Baptist Hospital

The Community Health Department of Bangalore Baptist Hospital serves the rural area located in Devanahalli Taluk, about 35 km from BBH, and serving some 35,000 people living in 50 villages. Interventions include health awareness programs for school children and women’s groups. Local capacity building is enhanced through training anganwadi workers, auxiliary nurse midwives, and by providing continuing medical education for primary health centre medical officers.

Access to primary care in increased mobile clinics held in the remote and hard-to-access villages. Special vigilance is made to identify malnourished children and provide nutritional support and follow up care. The Community Health Department also engages in leprosy eradication and prevention of impairment for leprosy patients. A chronic disease initiative is a high priority, using street plays and screening camps to increase awareness of atherosclerotic diseases and reduce risk factors.

*For medical students interested in patient care: This site only allows for observation. Student hands-on experience would be focused on public/community health.

India - Emmanuel Health Association

EHA is a network of 21 hospitals and 27 community health projects in northern and central India committed to caring for poor communities irrespective of caste, creed or race. A high proportion of India’s population continues to suffer and die from preventable infections, tuberculosis, malaria, cholera & diarrhea, malnutrition, and pregnancy and childbirth related complications. EHA hospitals provide the full range of clinical services, including obstetrics & gynecology, ophthalmology, pediatrics, general surgery, urology, and general & family medicine.

EHA is excited to offer cross-cultural self-paced experience in medicine, nursing, dentistry, physiotherapy, pharmacy, hospital administration, and public health for students who are interested in expanding their horizons and being challenged by an experience in India. EHA currently hosts about 100 health profession students per year.

India - Vellore Medical Mission College & Hospital

The Vellore CMC Rural Health Centre was established in 1954, providing outreach services to 5 villages. Over the years, it has expanded services to the entire geographic region of Kaniyambadi and today includes community-wide efforts to increase literacy, training of community health volunteers, Traditional Birth Attendants and provision of basic preventive and curative services at the village level.

On the forefront of these public health interventions, include efforts to prevent water-borne infections through sanitation and provision of potable water, control dissemination of TB through prompt diagnosis and DOTS treatment, development of micro enterprises for women and provision of rehabilitative care for those suffering from leprosy complications. Students of public health are actively encouraged to participate in the range of interventions, depending upon their particular interests.

*For medical students interested in patient care: This site only allows for observation. Student hands-on experience would be focused on public/community health.

Jordan - Annoor Sanatorium

Annoor Sanatorium is the Middle East’s referral center for lung diseases. This forty-bed facility is frequented by patients suffering from multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, asthma, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary fibrosis, bronchiectatsis, and congestive heart failure. It also offers pediatric care and serves large numbers of malnourished children from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.

While patients normally speak Arabic, INMED students can function in English with translation provided by hospital staff. Responsibilities include inpatient and outpatient care, under the supervision of six American and European trained physicians. The hospital provides housing at no charge, and offers meals at minimal cost to INMED students. Visitors to Annoor may also enjoy the nearby historic city of Petra.

Kenya - Kapsowar Hospital

This full-service hospital is lead by the African Inland Church (AIC) and since 1933 has provided care for people in a region who suffer from the combined impact of economic deprivation, rural location, and deficient medical care. Malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV are frequently treated, along with traumatic injuries, birth complications, and non-infectious chronic diseases.

Kapsowar Hospital has a strong commitment to medical education, frequently hosting medical students from other countries. Students are assigned to medical, pediatric or surgical rotations. Often, students will round in the mornings and following up with patients in the afternoons or assist in the operating theatre. Students take night call with appropriate back up, and they are encouraged to be involved in as much as they feel comfortable.

Kenya - Kijabe Hospital

Kijabe Hospital enjoys a very good reputation among the Kenyan people and is relatively modern compared to other medical care facilities in the nation. Services include inpatient adults and pediatrics, obstetrics, gynecology, neonatology and a very busy surgery department. Kijabe also emphasizes care in HIV and orthopedics. Since it is a referral center, patients coming to Kijabe tend to be very sick.

The hospital has a strong commitment to medical education and frequently hosts medical students from the USA, Canada, Netherlands, the UK, and Australia. The facility also sponsors residencies in general surgery and family medicine. Students participate in the full range of clinical care and are supported by a faculty who regularly make presentations at scientific meetings.

Kenya - Tenwek Hopsital

Located in the Rift Valley, Tenwek Hospital mainly serves the Maasai and Kipsigis tribes. These proud peoples make a living by cattle herding and subsistence farming, respectively, and generally live in great poverty. Their physical afflictions include malaria, typhoid, diarrhea, malnutrition, distant trauma (nonunion fractures, open fractures), tuberculosis, and obstetrical complications. In this context, Tenwek has been offering hope since 1935.

Comprehensive healthcare is provided, including HIV care, dental, physical therapy, public health, and hospice. Tenwek integrates teaching and formation throughout it services and hosts formal training programs in medicine, surgery, nursing, laboratory and pharmacy, and chaplaincy. Thus, Tenwek has earned a solid reputation for health promotion and for compassionate affordable healthcare, recognized throughout the surrounding provinces and nations.

Nepal - Health Environmental Learning Program

Health Environmental Learning Program (H.E.L.P.) is a community development organization working to empower the poor of the Himalayas of central Asia. Responding to community-initiated requests, H.E.L.P. provides training in literacy, agricultural and animal husbandry, and maternal and child health education. All trainers are Nepali community and church leaders working to meet both the physical and spiritual needs of the poor.

Those coming for a learning experience at H.E.L.P. will be based at H.E.L.P. headquarters in the city of Dhulikhel. From this location, they will participate in continuing education experiences offered for literacy, agriculture, and health facilitators. Learners will also enjoy opportunities to accompany facilitators in their community activities, with a focus on the learner’s particular interests.

Papua New Guinea - Kudjip Nazarene Hospital

Papua New Guinea is a developing country in every sense, and faces many of the same struggles found in Africa or Asia. Diseases of poverty predominate, and responding with compassion is the Kudjip Nazarene Hospital (KNH). This facility is located in the beautiful Waghi Valley, and includes a clinic, nursing school, community health program, and full-service hospital boasting 850 deliveries per year.

INMED students can anticipate caring for emergency, clinic, and hospital patients. Most will become proficient with invasive procedures, deliveries and surgical intervention. On-call duties and higher patient load is available for those with the requisite interest and skills. Direct supervision by a staff doctor is provided, and KNH physicians are keen on teaching.

Pakistan - Bach Christian Hospital

Set at the foothills of the Himalayas, this fifty-bed hospital provides care to rural Pakistanis, who suffer from diseases common in the West, such as diabetes, as well as from TB, typhoid, burns, etc. Large numbers of ill children and women with obstetrical emergencies and complications are also attended by the eight physicians from the US, Pakistan, Scotland and Germany who serve at Bach Christian Hospital.

Visiting health professionals, including students and residents, participate in the full range of clinical care, including ward rounds, clinic, surgery, obstetrics (female workers only, except for surgical procedures), burn care, and physical therapy. Visitors can hike in the mountains north of the hospital, including K2, can also visit the remains of ancient Greek and Buddhist pre-Islamic civilizations.

Philippines - Mercy in Action

Mercy In Action sponsored birth centers provides free comprehensive maternity care to people living in poverty in the Philippines, and act as a training site for healthcare students. Care is directed by Philippine licensed midwives in licensed and accredited freestanding birth facilities, and clinical care follows the FIGO and ICM approved “International Childbirth Initiative (ICI) 12 Steps to Safe and Respectful MotherBaby-Family Care.” The midwife-led maternity care provided implements evidence-based care and acknowledges the interaction between the family, the environment, and their interactions with health systems.

Mercy In Action supported sites have a strong educational emphasis and highly value the sharing of knowledge and skills between health care providers, patients, and trainees. Students are always under supervision while receiving hands-on experience. In addition to the inpatient facility, students may participate in our First 1,000 Days program, going into patients’ homes to monitor the growth and wellbeing of the babies we deliver until their second birthday.

Russia - Agape Unlimited

Moscow is home to a large number of urban poor, who are often elderly and who rely upon insufficient pensions. Moscow is also home to many Muslims from Central Asia and some one million Africans. Russians often lack proper nutrition and adequate health care and thirty percent do not have access to needed medicines or live within reach of a road.

Since 1993, Agape Unlimited has been providing homeless shelter clinics, nursing home clinics, clinic for African immigrants, and a model primary care clinic. Agape Unlimited also makes medical expeditions to offer healthcare to some of Russia’s most isolated people. A strong emphasis is made on healthcare education throughout all these services, to benefit both Russian and international learners.

South Africa - Mseleni Hospital

This medical ministry began as a clinic service situated in a remote part of eastern South Africa. Today it serves 75,000 rural people through outpatient care, mobile clinics, inpatient pediatrics and adults, maternity, dentistry, physical therapy and surgery. The region suffers from some of the world’s highest concentration of HIV; 33 percent of individuals are infected.

Supervision is provided by Dr Victor Fredlund, recognized in 2003 as the Rural Doctor of the Year by the South African Medical Association. Students coming to Mseleni Hospital participate in the full range of hospital services, including surgery and obstetrics, as well as mobile clinics and community interventions against TB, malaria and HIV. Communication in English and an available guest house make this location convenient for international students.

Tanzania - Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center

Tanzania is home to the tallest mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro. Located on its breath-taking foothills is the Kilimanjaro Medical Center: a full-service institution providing surgical, medical, obstetric, pediatric and outpatient services to are region of 11 million Africans. The medical center is also a leader in education, with medical, nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and pharmacy schools.

Students from many countries study under guidance of Tanzanian and international healthcare professionals, accompanied by volunteers and full-time staff. The staff is exceptionally involved in training and in research activities. The medical center also has active public health and HIV interventions. Teaching and medical records are in English, but the majority of patients speak Swahili. Interpreter services are readily available.

Thailand - Mae Fah Luang University Medical Center

Mae Fah Luang Medical Center is a teaching hospital affiliated with Mae Fah Luang University in located in the city of Chiang Rai in northern Thailand. This region is ethnically diverse and home to people of Thai, Hmong, Chinese, Lao, Burmese, Akha, and Karen origins. Many are farmers and immigrants who suffer from respiratory afflictions, as well tropical diseases including dengue fever, leptospirosis, and typhoid fever.

A variety of healthcare experiences are available. Most INMED learners opt for two weeks of primary care plus two weeks of a specialty experience in internal medicine, pediatrics, ophthalmology, orthopedics, anesthesia, or plastic surgery. Experience in traditional medicine may be available, along with opportunities to participate in home visits and mobile-clinic excursions to care for patients in more rural areas.

Uganda - Kiwoko Hospital

Located in rural Uganda, this hospital ministry serves a community marked by subsistence farming, lack of education, and diseases of poverty. Kiwoko Hospital provides inpatient care, including neonatology, surgery and obstetrics. The clinic also provides services for nutrition, eye, dentistry, TB, HIV and antenatal care. Kiwoko sponsors a community health initiative for immunization, public education, malaria prevention, water development and improved nutrition. The hospital also trains staff through their own nursing and laboratory school.

Four full-time physicians make up the medical staff, and are supported by many volunteer physicians who travel to Kiwoko each year. Students and residents fully participate in patient care, including ward rounds, night duty, presenting cases and assisting in surgery. Involvement with research projects is also an option.

Uganda - The Surgery

The Surgery is an International Medical Clinic established in the 1940’s. This 24-hour facility includes an ambulance service, emergency department, in-patient care, laboratory services, prenatal and obstetrical services, immunization, comprehensive HIV care, and family medicine. The Surgery does considerable charitable work. A street children’s network and most all the orphanages in Kampala rely on The Surgery and receive free consultations.

All staff and most all patients speak English. Students participate in the wide range of emergency care and primary care is provided. They report that the doctors are very eager to teach and provide insights on culture and medicine. Students find that the educational environment and standard of medical care at the Surgery is extremely high.

United Arab Emirates - Kanad (Oasis) Hospital

The United Arab Emirates is a country is situated just southwest of Saudi Arabia and bordered by the Gulf of Oman. Patients coming for care at Kanad (Oasis) Hospital represent a wide variety of backgrounds, including higher-educated local citizens and foreign workers, frequently from the Indian subcontinent. Diabetes is extremely prevalent, as are other common chronic disease states.

Kanad Hospital is a teaching hospital of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the United Arab Emirates University. Students in the healthcare professions are regularly received for educational rotations in the specialties of their choice. Clinical responsibilities will normally include outpatient clinic, inpatient care, obstetrics, and surgery. Students are constantly under the guidance of a staff physician.

Zambia - Macha Mission Hospital

This 208-bed acute care hospital includes a comprehensive community health program, outpatient clinic system, and nurse’s training school. Macha Mission Hospital is a state-of-the-art facility, setting a very high standard for medical care in low-resource settings. It also functions as a center for medical research in association with the Malaria Research Institute at Macha on topics concerning malaria, TB and HIV.

Since 1980, medical students and residents from the USA, Canada, England and the Netherlands, as well as Zambia’s own medical school, have been studying at Macha. This site is recognized by the MAP International/Reader’s Digest program and the Mennonite Medical Association, among others. Selection of the students and resident physicians is competitive, and thus early applications are encouraged.