Medical Students travel from all over the world to spend their electives at St. Francis’ Hospital. There are amazing opportunities to improve your clinical skills and experience, with the knowledge that you will be providing a valuable service to the people of Zambia. And an opportunity to visit a breathtaking country.
We encourage you to spend at least 8 weeks at the hospital to gain the most from the experience. You can choose whether to concentrate on one speciality or to rotate through several specialities. As the workload is busy and medical staff are often in short supply there is limited formal teaching but plenty of opportunity for informal teaching when seeing cases on the wards or in clinics.
Ward rounds may be teaching rounds with a senior doctor or you may be able to see patients yourself and then ask for advice when needed. There are General Surgery and Obs/Gynae theatre lists 3 times a week and when attached to the surgical or obs/gynae teams, you can attend theatre and either observe or assist, as you wish.
Most students also spend time in specialist clinics and the General Outpatient Department. The latter is the entry route to all hospital services, so you will see a great variety of cases with acute and chronic problems from all specialities. More senior medical students often reach the stage of seeing patients independently in OPD. One of the doctors will always be available for advice and this can be a very useful way of gaining confidence and experience in decision making.
Accommodation
Students are accommodated in a variety of rooms and shared houses around the Hospital campus. You may have your own room or you may be sharing with one other student. Attached to each building is a toilet, basin and shower. All meals are provided in the Staff Mess and your laundry is done twice a week. It is possible to cater for a vegetarian diet, but the menu may get a little repetitive! The cost of accommodation (also including all meals and laundry) is UK£30 per day, payable in Zambian Kwacha. This may be lowered for students from certain universities.
Booking a place
Due to the popularity of SFH for electives please get in touch earlier rather than later. If your elective is less than 6 months away, then you may well be too late.
To apply, please send an e-mail with the dates you wish to come, together with your CV/Resumé to medstudents@sfmhzambia.com
Preparation
For some guidance on how to prepare for your visit, have a look here, or join in the conversation with previous staff and students on our Facebook group page….