Hands-On Medical Volunteer Experience in Sri Lanka

About the Medical Camp in Sri Lanka

The medical camp in Sri Lanka is part of an initiative to provide basic healthcare services to poor families and communities. Through this stand-alone medical camp, we provide locals with basic medical treatment and assistance. The medical camp goes from one poor village to the other according to the needs of the impoverished population. Skilled medical volunteers like you run the camp and examine and treat the locals. You can be part of this program and use your medical knowledge to help them too.

Through this project, you will treat poor and sick elders, women, disabled individuals, and orphan children who are truly in need medical assistance. You will examine, treat, and give your patients advice regarding healthy habits and practices.

A local will doctor will lead and coordinate the medical volunteer team and help you in every step of your medical volunteer journey abroad. Your team leader will be a knowledgeable and experienced doctor who will run the camp, supervise you, guide you, advise you, inform you about the extent of the local health issues, allocate patients, and deal with any communication barriers.

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

All medical students and professionals with medical background can be part of the Sri Lanka Medical volunteering program, from physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, midwives, gynecologists, dentists, paramedics, EMTs to physical therapists, and many others.

Through this medical volunteering opportunity in Sri Lanka, you will experience hands on medical volunteer experience and serve the needy and sick people of Sri Lanka.

Team Leader

In Sri Lanka, Global Crossroad's medical camp will be led, coordinated, and supervised by an experienced and knowledgeable local doctor. He or she will stay with you and your group throughout the medical camp to make sure that every thing runs smoothly and that you have a wonderful medical volunteer experience in Sri Lanka.

Your team leader will advise you, guide you, supervise you, and share knowledge about the local health issues. Your team leader will coordinate all volunteers, delegate tasks, and support all medical volunteers. Your team leader will be your most valuable professional contact during this experience. You can contact him or her for any issues or problems in the camp. There may be local nurses and interpreters there as well.

A Sample Itinerary (one week)

When you join Global Crossroad's medical camp in Sri Lanka, your daily activities or program itinerary will change depending upon the needs of the communities. There is no fixed program itinerary. Here is a sample:

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

Your Sri Lanka experience start with the orientation of the program. On the first day, an orientation session will take place at the Galle Office. You will meet your team leader and learn about Sri Lanka, its culture, history, geography, politics, demographics, and contemporary issues.

After the introduction to your host country, your will learn everything about the medical camp. Then, you will learn about your responsibilities, health and safety procedures, your accommodation, meals, transportation, and what to do and what not to do.

In the end, you can ask questions and clarify any doubts you might have before revising the daily itinerary for the week. This orientation will help you a lot; you will receive precious information that will help you to serve the local communities and to have a successful volunteering experience.

If time allows, you will visit the medical camp. Depending on how the morning goes, you might start your volunteer activities.

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

You will have breakfast around 7 am. Then, you will head to the medical camp to make sure you are there before 8 am.

8 – 9 am: Set up camp

At 8 am, you will start preparation the medical camp.

9 – 1 pm: Patient check-ups

You will start examining and treating patients from 9 am to 1pm.

We expect locals to start arriving from 9 am. They will be suffering from many different medical conditions raging from general health issues to colds, ear infections, eyesight problems, and skin conditions, among many other aliments.

In addition to giving them medical treatment and care, you will also give them basic health education on different health topics. The Sri Lnaka medical camp will give you incredible opportunities to help the local people and gain hands on medical experience .

There will be a 30-minute break from 11 am to 11:30 am to rest and to refresh.

1 pm: Closing of the medical camp

Around 1 pm, the medical camp will close. Then, you will return to your host family home where they will serve lunch. In the afternoon, you can talk about the next day's tasks or head to Galle to explore the beautiful colonial streets. If you need any help or advice, the local team is always there to help.

Day 6– 7: Off days

You will volunteer during the week, Monday to Friday. The medical camp will close during the weekend. During your time off you can explore Sri Lanka, visit the capital, or find a beach to relax on. Let us know if you need any help organizing activities to do during your weekend off. We have helped many volunteers like you to have great experiences in Sri Lanka during and after volunteering.

The same program repeats the next week.

Important Notice: The sample itinerary above is just to give you a general idea of how we run the medical camp. Prior to your departure, we will send you a final customized itinerary of your medical volunteer trip in Sri Lanka.

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 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 - $625
Two weeks - $900

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

During your medical volunteer work experience in Sri Lanka, you will stay with a host family near the beautiful, well-kept houses of colonial Galle. Your host family has hosted many other international volunteers before. You will live in a large house with many bedrooms, community rooms with a television, a kitchen, a balcony, electric fans, bathrooms with running water and "Western-style" toilets. You will be sharing a bedroom with one same gender volunteer.

Your local host family will serve Sri Lankan typical food three times per day, which consists of boiled or steamed rice, served with a curry of fish, chicken, beef, mutton, or goat, along with other curries made with vegetables, lentils, or fruits.

Staying with host family will also give you opportunity of becoming further immersed in local culture and understanding Sri Lankan families and ways of life.

Global Crossroad has been running a successful volunteer program in Sri Lnaka since 2003. We have a strong team of professional country coordinators and local staff. The local team will support you throughout your medical volunteering trip to Sri Lanka. The local team will be in charge of all of the logistical support like transportation to and from the airport and to and from the medical camp.

Travel and Extending Your Stay

After you complete your medical volunteer program time commitment, you have the option to stay longer in the country, if you want. You can join another volunteer program and teach English or work with orphans, or simply venture out and explore the rest of the country. We will be happy to help you make the most out of your extension.