If you’re going away on an elective placement then the first thing to do is to make sure you know what your elective guidelines are.
Do you have professional insurance for anywhere in the world?
Do you have to produce a report or an actual research project?
How long have you got?
Do you have any holiday that you can use to extend your stay?
What time of year is your elective?
There is little point in organising an elective in rural Mozambique if you only have 2 weeks, similarly if you’re thinking of going to an African village that gets cut off from the rest of the world during the height of the rainy season it makes sense to check that that isn’t exactly when your elective is scheduled for. A research project is a lot more complicated to produce than a report – especially if you’re working in an area where hardly anybody speaks English. Once you have set some of these boundaries you can start to think about what you would like to do and where you would like to go.
What sort of nursing experience are you looking for?
A well equipped mission hospital?
A rural community clinic?
A particular speciality?
What sort of spiritual input are you hoping for?
A mission hospital with an emphasis on spiritual care?
A non-Christian project?
Active involvement in Christian outreach?
Local Christian support?
What sort of person are you?
Do you cope well alone?
Do you need someone to travel with?
Do you make friends easily?
Do find it hard to keep your spiritual life going on your own?
Credits:
This booklet was originally written by Sally Foster, CSNM’s former Staff Worker, and has been updated and expanded by Steven Fouch, CMF’s Allied Professions Secretary.
Any corrections, suggestions or comments please forward to healthserve@cmf.org.uk
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of CMF.
Christian Medical Fellowship
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London
SE1 1HL
United Kingdom
Christian Medical Fellowship is a registered charity No. 1039823
DISCLAIMER
CMF cannot be held responsible for the information contained in this booklet. Students will have to confirm the information with the individual institutions and missions agencies including the conditions for undertaking electives and the precautions advised to reduce health and transport risks.
