Medicine & Physiotherapy - SRI LANKA Project Information for Medicine in Sri Lanka

Volunteer Medical Placements in Sri Lanka

Our medical placements in Sri Lanka are based in the coastal towns of Panadura and Kalutara (about 45km south of Colombo) and also in Galle (115km south of Colombo). There are a variety of placements which are of varying suitability for pre-university students, undergraduates and medical students taking an elective.

Volunteers tend to work in a variety of departments on a two week rotation system, with common departments being General Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the Labour Ward, ENT and Paediatrics. It is also possible to spend a few days working in Neurology, the mortuary, rheumatology and the chest clinic. If you let us know your particular interests, we can usually arrange for you to work within your areas of preference. There are also opportunities to spend time in some specialized clinics - usually including some traditional ayurvedic experience. This will give you a well-rounded understanding of medicine in Sri Lanka and in the developing world in general.

In some departments of the hospital you will feel like you are of benefit by helping with the workload. However, in other departments you will primarily be an observer, which means that although you are not directly helping the hospital, you are increasing your own knowledge of medicine, knowledge which you can later put into practice.

The amount of hands-on experience that volunteers can gain depends on their level of knowledge and experience, but also on the level of enthusiasm and commitment demonstrated. All volunteers are required to work for at least 6 hours per day from Monday to Friday, but are welcome to extend this amount of time.

This kind of experience would simply not be possible in Europe or North America without full medical qualifications. So this placement offers an invaluable opportunity to experience medicine in a more hands-on way. For example one pre-university volunteer helped deliver five babies in one day on her placement!

Observing how the medical process works in a developing country, and more than that, being actively involved in it is an amazing opportunity, regardless of whether you are a pre-medical student or are already at university.