Medical Volunteering Abroad in Africa, & Asia
Medical Volunteering Overseas for Drs and Surgeons
In order not to repeat the information about the hospitals, and locations, the links on this page take you to the medical electives information for each country, which are the same for doctor’s medical volunteering abroad.
The differences between electives and doctors are:
The cost: you will pay for food, lodging, management, local support, our insurance, and your local licence, the latter being from $50.
We shall negotiate on your behalf to get, as far as is possible, the best arrangements we can for you.
Your medical licence will be converted to a local licence, valid from 12 -52 weeks (Uganda and Ghana, and Kenya respectively).
Should we place you with the Sri Lanka Army in Sri Lanka, you will not be required to convert your licence.
For Nepal, we are finalising details for qualified staff.
Accommodation for medical volunteering abroad is standard. Upgrades to hotels are available, should you wish. Our local partners can negotiate that for you.
The qualifications and experience necessary for Medical Volunteering abroad with GAFV
Each applicant for our medical volunteering abroad will need to produce:
their licence
CV
qualifiactions
passport
criminal record disclosure
2 professional medical references.
Criteria for you medical volunteering abroad as a doctor
Criteria 1: Drs with less than 2 years licenced practice.
You may practice under supervision:
on completion of medical school
as a Dr in their first 2 years of licenced practice
In keeping with US practice for registration with the ECFMG, the university in which you completed your medical training must be listed in the World Medical Education Directory
Criteria 2: practicing without supervision
To practice without supervision (after your initial placement):
Be licenced to practice as a doctor in the GCC; UK; EU; Schengen Zone; HK; Singapore; USA; Canada; Australia; NZ; Sri Lanka
and
have at least 2 years’ experience as a Dr in a hospital setting after passing the equivalent of the UK’s Foundation Programme, the USA’s GME program, or EU equivalent
Or
Have been previously been licenced in the Countries in ‘1’, but have now recently retired
Or
Have passed the the UK’s F2, or its Schengen Zone equivalent, or 1 year of the USA’s GME, if your qualifying licence for these countries’ programs was awarded outside of the countries in Criteria 1, and you have 2 years experience working as a doctor in the country of your licence.
All medical volunteering abroad candidates must provide:
PDF copies of all relevant qualifications, licencing, and passport
2 professional references
- on headed paper
- sent via a works email address
police clearances covering the countries you have worked in or lived in for longer than 12 months over the previous 5 years
If you do not meet either Criterion 1, or 2, and you are not on the GME or F2 programme, or its EU equivalent:
the copies of your qualifying certificates, registration and licencing as a Dr, and your passport must be signed by a solicitor or notary as true copies
Licencing│Approval costs
For pre-application checks, and national licence issuing with relevant authorities, a non-refundable admin fee (which includes physically going to the relevant authorities) of US $75 is charged.
If successful in meeting the criteria for local licencing, the relevant documentation shall be obtained for you, and copies forwarded to you.
For Kenya, you will need to go in person to the health ministry in Nairobi (accompanied by our local partners) to obtain the licence (valid for 1 year). This process can take up to 5 working days, and additional costs such as our homestay accommodation, or a hotel, will be required. There is also a US $60 licence fee (valid for one year) to be paid*. The pre-approval checks in Kenya at the ministry will enable us to verify that you qualify for licencing in Kenya prior to booking your flight, and arrival.
However, all licences, as visas, are issued at the discretion of the local authorities.
There may be an additional $125 for the licence for Sri Lanka.
*correct as of October 2023
Reasons to volunteer abroad as a Doctor or Surgeon with us
Doctor volunteering abroad with Give A Fig Volunteering offers significant benefits. You will be working with a support network that begins before you arrive. We facilitates your medical volunteer international program experience by handling the local licensing process on your behalf, which enables you to legally practice medicine in our linked hospitals in each partner organisation’s country’s health care system.
Whilst most organisations setting up volunteer work for doctors expect you to pay your own way, our study of prices shows that our volunteering work for doctors abroad is significantly cheaper than that charged by many others, and without any loss of quality or depth of experience.
Indeed, wherever possible, we will seek a waiver of placement charges made by the hospital for elective students, or where nominal, we shall pay them ourselves as a service to our in-country partners who want you to join them.
Each of the countries we offer placements in are experiencing a medical brain drain, with qualified staff moving to western countries for work. In the UK, this includes Drs and nurses whose IELTs band scores are below 6.5 / 7 working in the UK as care home assistants. In Sri Lanka, however, as it seems for UK Drs, Australia is the country of choice to move to for qualified medical professionals.
Much has been made in Sri Lanka of this drain, with one hospital having to put operations on hold due to the loss of their lost anaesthetist in early 2023.
Your work in any of these countries will be greatly appreciated, and valued.
“The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease”
- William Osler -
Page updated May 2024