Nursing and Pre-Nursing Internships Abroad

You learn under supervision. Pre-nursing students mainly shadow nurses and may help with simple, non-invasive tasks where the unit allows. Nursing students work only within the scope their program has trained them for, supervised by licensed staff.

Outside the hospital you attend lectures and simulations, help at community clinics and teach health lessons in schools.

Nursing areas include medical-surgical nursing, pediatrics, obstetrics, critical care and community health, where the site offers them. You rotate through one unit a week and list your preferences on your enrollment form.

In Mombasa, Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital has an emergency ward, an ICU and a maternity theater. In Cusco, Hospital Nacional Adolfo Guevara Velasco covers internal medicine, pediatrics, OB/GYN and geriatrics.

Most days run from about 8 AM to 4 PM, with six to eight hours in your assigned unit. Afternoons can bring a lecture, a community clinic or a hygiene lesson.

An optional night shift once a week may be possible, and weekends are open for treks or extra hospital time. Here is a sample program schedule for East Africa.

From two weeks up to 12 in Kenya, which runs year-round. Cusco runs fixed sessions of two to four weeks.

Most interns stay four to six weeks. Two weeks covers two units, and four weeks or more lets you see several.

You receive a certificate of completion, and you can request a letter of recommendation. Your hours are logged by role and shift and validated by IMA’s U.S.-based Medical Director. Each nursing program decides how to count them.

Academic credit is your school’s decision. Many interns have earned it, and IMA supplies proof of hours, letters on your duties and faculty evaluations. Settle the approval before you enroll.

Most pre-nursing students build experience in a few ways. Hospital volunteering and shadowing a nurse need no training, so they are good first steps.

Next, many students take a certified nursing assistant course, which usually takes four to twelve weeks. CNA work puts you at the bedside for real patient care hours.

A structured program abroad, like this one, adds a second health system and supervised time on busy wards. It works best alongside experience at home, not instead of it.

IMA’s placements are all overseas. Closer to home, start with your nursing school’s clinical placement office and your college career center.

Pre-nursing students often start as certified nursing assistants or hospital volunteers, where they can watch nurses at work. IMA’s guide to 10 ways to get clinical experience covers more options.

Neither. These are not paid positions, and you pay a program fee to attend. Need-based and merit-based scholarships can cover part of it.

Two weeks costs $3,995 in Mombasa or Cusco. Eight weeks in Mombasa costs $7,895, and four weeks in Cusco costs $5,995. A separate $995 program deposit applies to every program.

Your placement, teaching, housing, meals, transport and insurance:

• Hospital placement, weekly rotations and clinical mentorship
• Orientation, the Global Health Lecture Series and clinical simulations
• Shared housing in a gated residence with 24/7 security, three meals a day and Wi-Fi
• Airport transfers and private daily transport to your placement
• Travel medical insurance with $1,000,000 in coverage
• 24/7 in-country and U.S.-based support
• Weekly community outreach and local cultural outings
• Alumni graduate school admissions support

It does not cover international airfare, vaccinations, visa costs, optional laundry or personal spending. IMA-branded scrubs are required and bought separately. The $995 program deposit is extra.

Yes. IMA offers need-based and merit-based scholarships. IMA offers flexible, interest-free payment plans, and Program Mentors give specific guidance on the plans available for your program dates.

IMA’s Funding Guide covers outside scholarships, grants and fundraising on sites such as GoFundMe and FundMyTravel. Some interns also use financing through Uplift.

Plan on $50 to $100 a week. Meals, housing and program transport are covered, so spending money goes on meals out, souvenirs and weekend activities.

Optional treks cost extra. In Kenya, the Masai Mara safari starts at $3,595.

Most purchases in Kenya are in cash. Bring newer U.S. bills from 2009 or later, because older ones get a lower exchange rate.

IMA reports a 100% safety rating, with no incidents involving interns or staff in any of its programs. The details are on the program safety and security page.

You live in a gated residence with 24/7 security and travel only in private program vehicles. Staff are on call around the clock.

Orientation covers health and safety before your first shift. Post-exposure prophylaxis is available at no cost, and families have a 24/7 U.S. contact.

In a shared IMA program residence near your hospital. Residences sit in gated communities with 24/7 security staff. Rooms hold two or three interns, and common areas include Wi-Fi, a kitchen, a dining area and a lounge.

An in-house chef cooks three meals a day, and housekeeping staff look after the house. In Kenya, optional laundry costs $155 for the first two weeks and $55 for each extra week.

IMA recommends Mombasa, Kenya for most college students. It is IMA’s largest and longest-running program, it runs in English and interns can rotate through several specialties. Cusco, Peru suits students with at least two years of Spanish who want primary care, women’s health and community health.

IMA’s nursing internships run only in these two cities, not in Europe or Asia.

Either way, ask any program five questions. What will you do, and who supervises you? What teaching is included, what is the full cost and who helps if something goes wrong?

This page answers each one for IMA.

Yes, and you can check the details yourself. International Medical Aid, Inc. is a federally registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit based at 1629 K Street NW in Washington, DC. It launched in 2012, and its alumni come from more than 1,250 universities.

You can read accounts from interns and parents on the alumni testimonials page. Every intern is covered by $1,000,000 in travel medical insurance.