Public Health Medical Placement
internship Overview
This is an opportunity for motivated, enthusiastic, and adventurous interns to learn about the fields of medicine and public health in the most biodiverse place in the world - the Amazon rainforest. It is a unique opportunity to analyze the relationship between Western and traditional medicine in the local context.
Interns work in the Napo province which has disproportionate access to healthcare and a lack of educational resources for disease prevention. Public health interns have the option to support staff at a local hospital, rural health clinic, or a public health organization in the non-profit and/or governmental sector. Internship benefits include:
Placement in a health clinic, hospital, or public health organization and work alongside local doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, and other health professionals
Learn about the Ecuadorian healthcare system and practice medical skills
Support on-going public health projects about nutrition, hygiene, disease prevention, sexual education, and other topics
Hands-on experience in the medical field along with the opportunity to learn about traditional medicine, plant medicine, ethnobotany, agroforestry, indigenous rights, and more
Research & dissertation support available with partner organizations and universities, if requested
***NOTE: Specific projects change throughout the year depending on the needs of our partner organizations. The projects interns work on during their internships are based on the organization’s immediate needs and workflow.***
Daily Life
Internships begin with an orientation in the city of Tena. After, interns spend the first few weeks getting to know their host family and internship placements. Depending on the needs of the placement, potential internship activities include:
Shadow doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, and other health professionals. Option to focus on a particular area if available.
Practice medical skills such as taking vital signs, measuring height and weight, and taking temperatures
Assist with medical home visits and brigades in local communities
Support on-going public health projects [examples of past interns’ projects include hygiene and nutrition talks with school-age children, interactive health games with children, creating brochures and pamphlets with preventative health information for parents, GIS map of vaccination records, and an inventory of local agricultural products and their nutritional facts]
Opportunity to design your own public health project based on immediate needs of the placement organization and supervisor approval
Opportunity to learn about traditional medicine by connecting to local healers and plant experts within our network
Interns live with host families, allowing them to forge meaningful connections with locals during their time in the Amazon. Most host families live in rural communities close to the forest, and many have their own agroforestry farms and invite interns to join them when they plant, weed, and harvest.
An average day for a public health interns looks like:
***NOTE: Schedules can differ based on the intern’s placement and projects interns collaborate on. The following sample schedule is based off of past interns’ experiences.***
Wake up and have breakfast with host family
Head to work around 7:30/8am
Arrive to internship at the hospital, health center, or public health organization
Head back to host family’s house for an hour lunch break (***OR: When interns are in the field they can buy lunch or bring a packed lunch***)
Re-enter the workplace and finish up the day’s activities
Return home around 4/5pm for dinner with the family (***We encourage interns to spend as many evenings and weekends as possible with their host families to make the most of their immersions, learn about the culture, and practice their Spanish***)
Other activities to get involved in after work and on the weekends: sports, clubs, teaching English, meeting up with other interns, going on weekend trips to nearby tourist destinations, swimming in rivers, rafting, hikes to waterfalls and swimming holes, chocolate-making