Caring and medical gap years

Medical volunteers often form the backbone of humanitarian and relief projects. (Medecins sans frontiers etc). Have you ever considered lending a helping hand? You could make a dramatic difference in the lives of people all over the world by volunteering for a community care project, and you don't have to be a qualified health professional.

From hospitals to orphanages, during a caring or medical gap year you will usually be helping out with the extra things that full time staff do not have time to add, and that make a real difference to peoples lives. You may be working with people rehabilitating from drug addiction or helping out in homes for abused children so going into it with a mature and open mind is essential. Use the search options to find caring and medical volunteer placements abroad.

Search for caring & medical volunteer projects

Caring and medical gap year and voluntary jobs

Gap placement can also count towards the Skills section of the Duke of Edinburgh Award where a volunteer can learn a skill and get qualified (instructor tickets etc). Check with your course administrator for details.

You don't have to be planning to go on a medical course to fulfil a gap year in a medical field. If you are though, this kind of work can provide an excellent foundation for your studies. Whatever your experience in health and medicine, you could be making a world of difference to someone's life. As a caring and medical volunteer, you will be providing assistance where it is needed the most. Your help and enthusiasm will be welcomed enormously at a rural paediatric clinics, ‘poly-clinics‘ and hospitals. You‘ll face tough cases and need to be extremely conscientious when working in this field, but the effort you put in will pale in comparison to the positive effects of your contribution. Medical and caring projects are not always directly related to the people you will be helping. Many projects exist in research centres and in harvesting vegetation for use in alternative medicine.

Caring and community gap years

There are many projects involved with deprived communities and in helping give skills to younger members. Methods include workshops, classroom lessons, theatres, and computer labs. You could be helping with play rehearsals and other performing arts workshops, social skills workshops, cooking classes, basic computer skills and English classes (for more info on teaching English see the TEFL help section).

Volunteering with HIV/AIDS projects

Africa has staggering HIV/AIDS figures in its population. Volunteers are desperately needed to support staff already out there running centres which aim to help tackle this immense problem. You could make a very real difference to communities by educating and counselling those caught up in the disease, as well as caring for those young & old people affected. Millions of children have been orphaned by the disease and a growing number of young people are carrying the virus.

The main activities you could be involved with revolve around education, counselling, home care, HIV testing, drug provision and report writing. You will be providing support to volunteer staff already there, assisting them with helping to prevent spread of HIV through education and raising awareness. You could also help with fundraising, teaching English, raising awareness of the disease through talks and seminars at community meetings and local schools.