Hands-On Medical Volunteer Experience in Costa Rica

About the Medical Camp in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica, we run our medical camp in Puntarenas, a beautiful rural town just few hours' drive from San Jose. This stand-alone mobile medical camp offers medical services to the surrounding impoverished communities. Being part of this medical volunteer program in Costa Rica, you will treat local patients, promote personal hygiene, and help to create health awareness. You will perform examinations, provide diagnoses, recommend suitable treatments, and advise your patients on how to stay healthy and how to look after their own health. This will be a very hands on medical volunteering experience.

In this volunteering medical trip to Costa Rica, you will also learn more about the health care services provided abroad and experience first hand the powerful impact you can have on the lives of the local people.

Please note that there may be occasions where mobile medical camps cannot be offered to remote villiages and communities. In these situations, volunteers seeking hands-on medical experiences will be placed in the hospital to work in collaboration with physicians.

Skills and Qualifications

The medical volunteer abroad program in Costa Rica is available to medical volunteers of any age and educational or professional backgrounds such as medical students, physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, nurse midwives, gynecologists, dentists, paramedics, EMTs, physical therapists, nutritionists, and other health care workers.

Your Local Team Leader

Costa Rica Medical Camp will be led by an experienced local doctor. The team leader will stay with you or your group throughout the program. He or she will be the main contact person in the camp. The doctor in charge of the medical camp will allocate tasks, provide information related to the local health issues, give you guidance, and supervise you while you help the local community. Depending on the needs of the project and number of the volunteers, there will be local interpreters and nurses also working with the team.

A Sample Itinerary (one week)

As a medical volunteer working in Costa Rica, you will work within impoverished communities in a camp set up at local clubs, schools, women-only groups, orphanages and community centers. The daily work schedule or itinerary of the program may vary depending upon the interest of the group or need of the community. Below is a sample daily schedule.

Day 0

Arrive in Costa Rica (San Jose) and transfer to Puntarenas

Day 1: Orientation and Q&A session about the medical camp

Your volunteering experience in Costa Rica will start with a comprehensive orientation. A short orientation program will be held at our Puntarenas office.

There are two parts to the orientation. In the first part, our country coordinator will discuss the topics of history, geography, politics, safety, room, food, travel, and transportation.

In the second part, your team leader will explain everything you need to know about the camp: its goals, local health issues, duties of volunteers, dos and do not's in the camp, etc. At the end of the orientation, there will be a question and answer session. This orientation is crucial to getting all of the information that you need in order to assist the local community and make the most of your Costa Rica medical volunteer experience.

If time allows, you will visit the medical camp and meet the local people with whom you will be working. Your medical camp experience may even start on day one.

Day 2-5: Beginning of your experience as a medical volunteer in the medical camp

On the second day, breakfast will be served around 7 am. Then you will leave for the camp.

8 – 9 am: Set up camp
Upon your arrival to the health camp, you will start getting things ready. During the first hour, you will help the team set the camp up in an efficient manner. The tasks vary from setting up the registration desk and cleaning the camp to preparing the area for patient check-ups.

9 – 1 pm: Patient check-ups
The core of your volunteering tasks start around 9 am.

Notification of the medical camp will be made public at least one week prior to the start of the camp. So, it is expected that many locals will come to the health camp. These local people are suffering from different diseases and medical conditions, with a broad range of symptoms, some related to general health, others specific to eye, ear, or skin infections.

Usually, the primary goal of the health camp is to provide basic treatments and to give advice to improve general and public health. However, if the health camp users suffer from conditions within your medical specialty, you may use your expertise to assist, diagnose and treat them accordingly.

For three to four hours, you will be very busy looking after local patients and assisting the team with the many tasks needed throughout the morning. Providing medical assistance to the local people and serving them is an incredibly rewarding opportunity for you.

11 am – 11:30 am: 30 minutes break to rest and to refresh.

1 pm: Closing of the medical camp

Once the medical camp closes, you will be taken back to your accommodations where you will be served lunch and enjoy a well earned deserved rest. During your time off, you can either discuss the tasks for the following day or explore Puntarenas. Do not hesitate to contact our local staff at any point, if you need assistance.

Day 6– 7: Off days

The medical camp is usually open from Monday to Friday; the weekend will be yours to travel within the country, visit other cities, explore local markets, meet local people, and pay a visit to famous tourist attractions. The options are endless!

For the last ten years, we have run accountable volunteering programs abroad and have helped thousands of volunteers like you to help others in need. We can provide you with information if you would like to travel independently or organize a short day trip to one of the many beautiful locations. Please let us know how we can help. We will always be happy to assist you.

This medical volunteering program in Costa Rica starts again on the following next week, if you are continuing on for a second week.
Important notice: The sample itinerary above is just a generic outline to give you a general idea of how we run the medical camp. Prior to your departure to Costa Rica, we will send you a final customized itinerary of your medical volunteer trip abroad.

Dates

Global Crossroad's medical camp starts on the first and third Monday of each month. However, if you have a small group of more than three volunteers who want to join the program, we can create a customized program to allow your group to start at any date that is more convenient for your group.

Important notice: You can join Global Crossroad's International medical camp individually or in a group. We need a minimum of 3 volunteers to run the camp. Therefore, we request that you invite others to make a small group. Or, if this is not possible, please apply at least 2 or 3 months in advance so we can inform you - at least a month in advance - in case we have to cancel the camp setup due to failing to meet the minimum number of volunteers required.

Fees

Global Crossroad offers one of the most affordable medical volunteer abroad programs. Our cost is extremely affordable. Global Crossroad's international medical camp offers a hands-on medical volunteer experience to volunteers while running the stand alone camp and covering most of the expenses related to the medical camp such as local doctors, nurses, medicine, water, etc.

The Global Crossroad's registration fee is $299.

Weekly fee

One Week - $751
Two weeks - $1,152

What does the fee cover?

• Airport pick up and drop off
• Accommodation
• Comprehensive travel insurance
• Food (3 local meals a day)
• Support & supervision from local doctors and team

What's not included?

• Airfare
• Daily transportation
• Visa
• Personal expenses
• $100 donation to buy and distribute free medicines to local people - you can pay it locally.

Housing, Food, and Supervision

In Costa Rica, we have two kinds of accommodation options: volunteer house and host family.

Our volunteer house is a large house where we can accommodate a large group of students. Our volunteer house is safe, clean, and comfortable. In the volunteer house, you will share a room with other volunteers.

Depending upon the situation, we may place you or your group with a local host family. We generally place 2-5 volunteers with one host family. In Costa Rica, we work with many experienced host families to ensure that you have a wonderful home stay and cultural immersion experience.

While staying with a host family, you will get your own single and simply furnished bedroom, or you may be asked to share a room with one same gender volunteer. You will live in a comfortable and clean home located in a safe area. No matter where you stay, you will get typical Costa Rican food three times a day, which is usually corn, beans, rice, pork, beef, chicken, cheese, and tortillas.

Travel and Extending Your Stay

At the end of your one or two-week Costa Rica medical volunteer program, you have the option to stay longer in the country. There are many options, as far as how to extend your trip. You can enjoy your time off and explore the country, or you can join another one of Global Crossroad's other volunteer abroad programs such as volunteering as an English teacher or working with children in an orphanage. Let us know what your plans are and we will be happy to help you in any way that we can.