Laos
Vivid nature, voluptuous landscapes and a vibrant culture collide with a painful past and optimistic future to make Laos an enigmatic experience for the adventurous. Travellers relish its sleepy atmosphere and charming people. Our programs in Laos provide students the opportunity to immerse themselves in Lao village life and work with local healthcare providers at a grassroots level.
Laos shares international borders with China to the north, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, Thailand to the west, and Myanmar to the north-west and is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is a largely mountainous country with incredible scenery.
Opportunities in Laos
Nursing (download Flyer)
The Laos Primary Health placement is in Pak Xeng, in rural Northern Laos, a few hours north of the tourist hub of Luang Prabang. It focuses on community health outreach via mobile health clinics and health promotion activities, placing student groups in uniquely experiential situations to alleviate poverty, respect indigenous cultures and protect local environments, whilst providing opportunities for groups to learn and practice skills in culturally diverse and challenging environments.
The Pak Xeng district stretches north along the Seuang River encompassing approximately 50 villages with a population of 200-400 per village. There are small community clinic outposts and one district hospital in the region, yet they are under resourced and staffed with only a small number of health care practitioners.
The greatest challenge of Pak Xeng District Hospital is to provide adequate health services to remote villages. Our groups work with the local health care teams on a health outreach project operating mobile clinics in the villages stretching along the Seuang River.
Each day is spent at a different village setting up a mobile clinic in the community hall or school to administer basic healthcare and education using a family assessment model. Students complete basic health assessments and develop a diagnosis with their supervisors to plan and implement care.