Organise your 2 week group medical trip to India today! Group leaders travel free and your 15 days in India will be fully structured, inclusive and led by our experienced team. Your base for your medical volunteer placements will be the industrial city of Faridabad in the suburb of Delhi. You will give back to the local community in a variety of medical settings including primary health camps in the slum communities, GP clinics & hospital settings. Such placements will provide you with a fantastic opportunity to gain first-hand experience and insight into Indian health care. You will receive an orientation into life in India before your medical placements begins.
Outside of the medical volunteer placements, you will spend a couple of days exploring Old and New Delhi. At the end of your group trip to India, we will arrange more adventure travel as you explore India's Golden Triangle. This will include exploring the breadth of the Pink City Jaipur, taking in sunrise at a Wonder of the World in the Taj Mahal and enjoying a guided tour around Agra Fort. Cultural activities will be provided throughout the itinerary including yoga and cooking classes as well as Bollywood movies and dance lessons. Everything is included in your 2 week India expedition from the airport transfers and meals to accommodation, medical donations, entrance fees and cultural activities.
INDIA GROUP TRIP HIGHLIGHTS WITH PMGY
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A FULLY STRUCTURED, MOST AFFORDABLE, SAFE AND ALL INCLUSIVE EXPERIENCE
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A PERFECT BLEND OF VOLUNTEER, TRAVEL, ADVENTURE & CULTURAL IMMERSION
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TRIP ITINERARY, ACTIVITIES & DURATION EASILY TAILORED TO YOUR NEEDS & WANTS
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GAIN EXPOSURE INTO THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IN A VARIETY OF MEDICAL SETTINGS
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PMGY WILL ENSURE A TRUE AUTHENTIC INDIA EXPERIENCE FOR YOUR GROUP
HOW IT WORKS FOR MEDICAL TRIPS
Plan My Gap Year has the expertise, experience and networks to make your India expedition accessible, safe and stress-free. We pride ourselves on safety management and we have risk assessment documentation for all our overseas trips including to India that outline how we ensure participants are kept safe while overseas.
Organising an overseas trip for your group involves lots of preparation. From flights and insurance to pre-trip training and that’s even before you’ve looked at organising the itinerary! So that’s where PMGY come in. We really do specialise in the group's overseas expedition area providing exclusive group trips whilst accommodating large groups of students, on full board options. We guarantee to provide trusted and vetted medical project settings that provide great insight, exposure and learning opportunities for students. In addition, we will sandwich in some fantastic travel opportunities around India for students to enjoy on their rest days. We can organise:
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FLIGHTS (PMGY ARE ATOL PROTECTED), TRAVEL INSURANCE & FULL VISA GUIDANCE
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ALL-INCLUSIVE TAILORED VOLUNTEER AND/OR TRAVEL-BASED ITINERARIES
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FULL PRE-DEPARTURE PREPARATION AND 24/7 INTERNATIONAL & IN-COUNTRY SUPPORT
As a social initiative, we are able to guarantee affordable prices without sacrificing the quality of our programs. We frequently have groups joining our programs as they are looking for a more affordable alternative to their existing provider. We can tailor a trip around your requirements and work with you to create your personalised group medical trip itinerary. So why not follow the PMGY ten-step journey below to making your bespoke group medical trip to India a reality!
TEN STEP JOURNEY & OUR SUPPORT ROLE
Step 1: Arrange a Call - Should this trip be the one for you, get in touch by email or call and one of our group expedition specialists can discuss and tailor your India medical trip. Alternatively, let us know the best way to reach out to you and we will do so at a time convenient to you.
Step 2: Meet & Greet - After initial contact has been made and ideas progressed, our group expedition specialist will travel to meet you and any of your colleagues in person. As a result, a face can then be put to the name, the India trip planning can be evolved and any initial questions can be answered.
Step 3: Information Session - Once the itinerary, duration and dates are in place for your trip to India, our group trip specialist will come and host an information session with all interested travellers and parties. We will convey all necessary content and information about the trip and hold a Q&A session after the presentation to ensure all attendees are as informed as possible before signing up.
Step 4: Confirm Trip Numbers - Once the internal deadline for registrations has passed and the trip numbers are known, PMGY will arrange the invoice procedures for the overall group deposit payment to confirm the trip go ahead. For every 10 students, 1 group leader spot will be provided for free! We can also arrange and provide flights and insurance options for all travellers should this be applicable.
Step 5: PMGY Pre-departure Support - Throughout the build-up to your India group medical trip, we will be on hand to support you whatever way possible. Whether it be through creating your bespoke trip handbook, completing risk assessments, communicating safety management procedures or providing project preparation webinars, we will have all bases covered.
Step 6: Pre-departure Session - Around 2 months before your group trip begins in India, we will conduct a final pre-departure session with all travellers and relevant persons. This will ensure that everything is in place before your group head overseas and the content covered will align with this accordingly. We will also distribute PMGY T-shirts to all travellers at the session!
Step 7: Before You Go - In the days before your arrival into India, we will be in close and regular contact with you to make sure everything is in place for your trip. This will include a range of emails and phone calls ensuring your arrival procedures are all in place, dietary requirements & medical conditions are catered for and that our ground team in India are well prepared for your group's arrival.
Step 8: Enjoy the Trip! - When on the trip, our ground team will become your day to day port of call. We will touch base with them daily to make sure your trip is running smoothly. If required, we will be available 24/7 from afar. We will check in with you across the trip to see how everything is going. We know you will be in safe hands with our trusted, experienced and vetted ground teams!
Step 9: Return Home - By the time our team have dropped you safely back at Delhi Airport, the travel blues may already be starting to kick in! We hope all travellers have had an unforgettable trip! Each trip participant will receive a certificate of completion. Furthermore, we will check in one final time with you in the days after your trip for feedback on your India experience.
Step 10: Future Planning - After a few weeks away from India and once the travel blues have well and truly settled in, it's now time to be planning your next group medical trip with PMGY to create more magical memories! Whether it be back to India or to a new destination, PMGY will be on hand every step of the way again to facilitate your new adventure. Back to Step one we go!
MEDICAL CASE STUDY - UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD, UK
Who - University of Sheffield from the United Kingdom. 14 medical students including 1 group leader from the University of Sheffield travelled to India on a group medical elective with PMGY.
What - A 21 day medical elective to India in total. The primary health campaigns in the slum communities of Faridabad were the core of students medical experience in India. Students would rotate their time across different slum settings in the Faridabad community. Most of the program was centralised on providing free primary healthcare and medical check-ups to members of local slum communities. Students would have consultations and processes explained by the healthcare professionals whilst also undertaking basic hands-on involvement taking blood pressure, blood sugars and dressing minor wounds. Students also spent time shadowing doctors and nurses in a hospital setting and witnessing a range of surgeries as and when they happened. PMGY also arranged a 4 day trip for the students to enjoy outside of the elective placement settings. As a result, students got to explore India's famous Golden Triangle as they visited Old and New Delhi, The Pink City of Jaipur and headed to the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort.
Where - University of Sheffield students experienced so much and a range of locations in their 21 days in India. Arriving in Delhi, the main segment of the trip was the medical placement settings in the industrial town of Faridabad in the suburbs of Delhi. This was the students base for the 3 week elective period. When students had free time, the group used the time to explore Northern India through a 4 day trip developed by PMGY. Whether it was old and new of Delhi, the temples in Jaipur, the sunrise at Taj Mahal or the walls of Agra Fort, Sheffield medical students experienced the breadth of India.
When - University of Sheffield students from a range of medical disciplines regularly join PMGY's medical programs on overseas electives each year. Expanding on this, 14 medical students arranged a 3 week medical elective inclusive of a Golden Triangle trip with PMGY in the spring of 2019.
Why - PMGY has a strong reputation of providing affordable, accessible and structured medical elective experiences for University of Sheffield students. This is not just limited to India, but expanding to PMGY's medical and healthcare programs across Ghana, Tanzania, Bali, Sri Lanka, Peru and Ecuador. A group of students from the University of Sheffield wanted a medical experience where they could get as hands-on as possible and have as much exposure to a different healthcare system in a range of medical settings. India is generally seen as PMGY's strongest medical program due to the exposure students get and the range of projects involved. As such, India became the destination for 14 Sheffield medical students overseas elective experiences.
How - The group leader of the 14 students who went to India originally contacted PMGY on the back of strong word of mouth recommendations. Such recommendations had come from previous Sheffield students who joined PMGY's medical program in India for an overseas elective as individuals previously. The group leader wanted to put together a structured 3 week group medical elective experience in India for 2nd Year Medical students at the University of Sheffield. PMGY provided the student will all necessary marketing materials to promote the trip and handled all the administration and organisation for the trip to take place once the group numbers were confirmed. The group leader received a free spot on the trip inclusive of all the trip services and travel experiences for their role in marketing and recruiting fellow students to join the trip. Each student received extensive pre-departure support in the build-up to their trip which was tailored to include a group trip of India's Cultural Triangle outside of the project commitments.
Feedback - "Myself and 13 other students had a memorable medical elective in the amazing country and culture of India. As the group leader of the trip, I collaborated with PMGY to ensure I could promote the trip around campus to my students as effectively as possible. PMGY were great in providing all the marketing tools I needed as well as all the hints and tips from my PMGY group trip mentor to promote the elective experience as best as possible. The pre-departure support was extensive and seamless throughout meaning me and my fellow students could look forward to the elective experience in India without it providing any additional stresses to our academic work. Our goal was to have as much exposure and insight into the India healthcare system as possible and develop our learnings accordingly. Working in the medical camps in the slum communities and playing a basic, but important role in providing free primary healthcare to people that would otherwise go without was the highlight of the trip. Not only did we learn so much and receive so much information and insight from all the doctors and nurses, but we got to embrace new opportunities and give back to the communities that needed it most. The PMGY India coordinator Vishy does so much for the slum community and provided so much more to our experience than we could have imagined. Whether it was dressing up in saris and enjoying a Bollywood dance class or travelling the Golden Triangle and enjoying a sunrise tour of the Taj Mahal, there was so much more we embraced to our India experience outside of the medical placements. To summarise, not only did we learn so much about the Indian healthcare system and the challenges in particular that the overcrowded slum communities face, but we developed great memories to bring back home with us whether that was making friends with the doctors, embracing the culture or travelling in our free time. "
MEDICAL VOLUNTEER PROJECT SUMMARIES
Background - Despite advances in India’s healthcare system, the majority of the population still experience poor health. This is largely due to a lack of awareness of health issues. Additionally, many Indians simply cannot afford regular, if any, medical treatment.
Poor environmental conditions, lack of sanitation and inadequate diets result in many health challenges in India, especially in the slum communities. Children are the most vulnerable, particularly the poor children living in urban slums. At least 30% of children in India's slum and rural communities face exclusion from essential health services and other services like safe drinking water, sanitation, education etc.
The projects we support therefore offer free, or highly subsidised, healthcare to local people from slum and rural communities. Our main project for India where students will support is the medical camps within slum communities. In these areas, there is a prominent lack of health education and access to medical help. To contribute to improving this, we have established our own primary healthcare clinic, running all year round in the heart of the core slum community we support. Additionally, our team establish pop-up clinics across some of the local area’s poorest communities. This helps to ensure our team and international volunteers are able to make the biggest impact possible.
As a medical volunteer in India, you will have the opportunity to experience a variety of different medical facilities. This can range from shadowing in surgeries to sitting in on GP consultations. We offer medical placements for people of all backgrounds. In short, students will have a fantastic opportunity to gain first-hand experience and insight into Indian health care. Working with highly trained local staff and healthcare professionals, students will gain exposure and tuition that they are unlikely to obtain in their own country.
Eco-School Slum Clinic - The healthcare clinics we run really are the core of the medical program in India. Our main clinic that students will experience is based in our Eco Slum School. The centre acts as the main point of health access for the local community. This is particularly important since individuals here may not otherwise have access to any other form of healthcare. Our medical staff can see anywhere from 40-100 patients daily. There are two clinics where doctors undergo consultancies – one general and one gynaecology. There is also a lab.
The gynaecology clinic is a newer development, with hopes of further expansion in the future. This clinic provides women from the local community with education about female health. We have also developed our own lab at the program. Here, the lab technician carries a variety of health checks. This often includes testing urine glucose levels, blood type and for pregnancy. Since the clinics are located within the slum school our team also run, students will also have the opportunity to engage with the local children.
Students may be assigned some very basic hands-on involvement. This may include taking blood pressure, blood sugars and dressing minor wounds. This is all undertaken under the supervision of the staff you will be attached to during your time. The local staff are extremely welcoming and very keen for volunteers to learn. Although the patient interactions will be in Hindi, the doctors speak English and will explain everything to you in English.
Slum Outreach Health Campaigns - Based on the same principles of the Eco-School Slum Clinic, we will extend this service to run free medical camps across other poor communities in Faridabad. The slums we work in at any point in time are dictated by the communities that have the greatest need. The core provision of these health campaigns remains to offer primary healthcare and medical check-ups to members of local slum communities.
We hire a local doctor to lead the campaigns and supervise students. Our team will also supply the relevant medical supplies and equipment needed. An interpreter is also recruited to help students overcome the language barrier when interacting with patients and further their knowledge.
At the health camps, students have the chance to learn basic skills. This might include taking blood pressures, checking blood sugars and assisting doctors in seeing the patients. You will also get the chance to see and learn about interesting clinical signs and syndromes typically found in slum communities. Students receive ongoing training and mentoring from the local doctor, enabling each participant to get as involved as possible. The range of health conditions encountered in the slums is vast. Although many patients only have simple problems, there are many that would benefit immensely from specialist input.
Hospital Placement - We have a number of hospitals within our network. Generally speaking, students will have the opportunity to shadow within hospital departments. Here, individuals may be able to carry out basic health checks on patients during doctor’s rounds. Common departments medical students will be placed within include ultrasound, paediatrics, ophthalmology, non-urgent care and theatre.
Students can also witness surgeries during their time at the hospital. Naturally, these will take place on a more ad-hoc basis. In short, it will be a real eye-opening experience for students to see the difference between hospitals in India compared to those at home.
GP Clinic - Here, participants have the opportunity to work alongside a local doctor. Students will assist in carrying out basic health checks on members of the local community in a bustling street market. Usually, the doctor sees up to 100 patients daily. The clinic can run in both morning and late evening time, usually around 2-3 hours each session. This may allow for basic hands-on involvement if students choose to undertake such an opportunity.
