Nursing Internship in Tanzania

Learn directly from experienced nurses in Tanzanian hospitals and do outreach work

Destination

Tanzania

Age

16+ y/o

Minimum Stay

1 week

Start Date

Anytime

Accommodation

Homestay

What’s Included

24/7 Support

Round-the-clock support on the ground and 24/7 back up from our global teams.

Accommodation & Amenities

Clean, safe, and welcoming accommodation. A home away from home with comfortable amenities.

Activities, Training & Equipment

All programme activities and equipment, including training and workshops from experienced professionals.

Certification

Certified record of service hours, workshops, and activities for your CV.

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Starting at £1,520 for 1 weeks

Flexible 0% Interest payments

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Trip Overview

Real world nursing experience

Rotate through surgery, maternity, general medicine, paediatrics, and palliative care wards, gaining a broad understanding of nursing specialisations.

Learn from local experts

Shadow nurses in busy hospitals and clinics to observe how they provide care and manage resources in a challenging environment.

Conduct medical outreach sessions

Travel to rural Maasai communities to conduct health checks, assist with screenings, and provide basic medical care to those in need.

Explore the “safari capital”

Live with a local family in Arusha, visit bustling markets, and embark on a thrilling safari adventure in your free time.

Develop as a global citizen

Gain confidence, cultural sensitivity, and a deeper understanding of global health challenges as you experience the warmth of the Tanzanian people.

What you need to know

Overview

Looking to gain practical experience before your nursing career? This internship is perfect to learn about working in a hospital before applying to nursing school. You’ll get the chance to shadow professional doctors and nurses, enhancing your medical knowledge and improving your CV.

If you’re a nursing student, this is also a great opportunity for you to get practical experience and build your confidence before you graduate.

If you’re not sure whether a career in nursing is for you, join this project to get a glimpse into the daily life of a nurse in Tanzania. You’ll go back home with a clearer idea of nursing work and a broader knowledge of medicine in general.

This internship runs all year round, so you can join at any time. The minimum duration is two weeks, but you can stay as long as you’d like after that.

Nursing Departments

You’ll have the chance to rotate between different departments to learn about different areas of medicine. If there’s a department you particularly enjoy, you can spend most of your time there. The different departments include:

Surgery
Maternity
General medicine
Paediatrics
Palliative care

The number of departments you can work in will depend on how long your internship is. We recommend staying in each department for at least a week. If you’re interested in a specific department, feel free to contact us, and we can help advise you.

A Day in the Life

You’ll wake up and enjoy a hearty meal with your host family before grabbing your white coat and catching a dala-dala to your placement hospital or clinic.

On a typical day, you’ll arrive at work by about 8.00 am and leave at 4.00 pm. Project work runs from Monday to Friday, and you have the weekends free.

You’ll usually spend your mornings shadowing skilled doctors and nurses. Join them during consultations to see firsthand how they diagnose and treat patients.

You can spend time doing ward rounds and watching nurses taking health measures. You’ll also have the opportunity to ask questions and find out more about what working as a nurse is like. Depending on how long your internship is, you can visit various departments to learn more about specialisations.

Your evenings will be free, giving you the chance to explore Tanzania. You can visit local markets, enjoy a delicious home-cooked meal with your host family, or spend time chatting to Projects Abroad interns.

Aims & Impact

The main aim of this internship is to promote knowledge sharing. You will learn from qualified doctors and nurses about how healthcare is practised in a developing country. You’ll also be able to learn about healthcare systems in other countries from the other interns. Ultimately, you’ll leave with a well-rounded knowledge of how the medical field works in a developing country.

You’ll help with providing early screening to people who don’t have easy access to medical facilities. They might not have transport or funds to go to hospitals. Medical outreaches provide basic medical care to these people. You’ll measure their blood pressure, blood sugar, height, and weight. This data will assist doctors and nurses with making referrals.

We have five main goals for our Nursing Project in Tanzania. The goals in our Medicine Management Plan are:

Improve access to basic healthcare for disadvantaged groups
Promote awareness of non-communicable diseases
Improve hygiene standards
Improve the quality of healthcare provided to patients
Encourage an understanding of medical practices and promote an exchange of medical knowledge

Join this internship and help us work towards achieving these goals.

Activities

Under the guidance of your project supervisor, you’ll gain nursing work experience in Tanzania, as you spend your days in local hospitals and health clinics. You’ll learn about many different aspects of medicine and:

Shadow professional nurses and doctors during ward rounds and consultations
Spend time in different hospital departments
Attend medical lectures or workshops
Get hands-on experience while helping people at medical outreaches

Your work will focus on both learning and helping provide better medical care:

Learn from doctors and nurses

You’ll shadow doctors and nurses from different departments and get to know what life is like as a nurse in Tanzania. You’ll sit in on consultations and see how nurses cope when supplies run low.

You can rotate between different departments or choose the department that interests you most. So you can gain as broad or as focused a learning experience as you’d like. The number of departments you intern in will also depend on how long your internship is. We recommend staying in each department for at least a week.

Medical workshops

During workshops and lectures, you’ll gain practical skills, learning to measure blood pressure and blood sugar or give injections. You’ll also learn about how to diagnose and treat tropical diseases like malaria.

Help local people at outreaches

Outreaches are another opportunity for learning. In the process, you’ll provide basic medical care to local people. During outreaches, you’ll go out into Maasai communities with doctors and nurses. You will assist them with screening for problems like diabetes and high blood pressure by taking measures such as blood sugar, blood pressure, and weight.

Map & Location

Vast savannahs teeming with wildlife, Mount Kilimanjaro piercing the sky, and the colourful culture of the Maasai tribe — all things you’ll find in the incredible East African nation of Tanzania.

Tanzania is considered as one of the safest countries in Africa with a friendly and welcoming population, and is a popular tourist destination. With 30% of the country covered in national parks, including the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, it’s especially good for safaris.

Arusha

Arusha, in northern Tanzania, serves as a gateway to Africa’s most renowned safari destinations. The region is home to 2.4 million people, with 600,000 living in Arusha city at the foot of Mount Meru. It enjoys a pleasant highland climate with warm days and cool nights.

It has a mix of cultures and a growing tourism industry thanks to the fascinating handcrafted souvenirs of the Maasai markets, interesting cultural sites, and thrilling safari trips to nearby national parks.

Food & Accommodation

Discover the magic of Tanzania from your base in Arusha. You’ll have everything you need for a comfortable stay, including a cosy bed, three meals a day using the authentic tastes of Tanzania, and readily available drinking water.

You’ll be welcomed into a carefully selected host family in Arusha, instantly making you feel like a local and providing a taste of Tanzanian life. It will be clean, safe, and within a short distance of your placement. We’ll also handle your daily transport to and from your project, so you can focus on developing your skills, connections, and global perspective.

Shared rooms are arranged with other participants of the same gender and similar age, creating a great opportunity to connect and share your cultural exchange in this beautiful country.

Free Time and Leisure

A trip to Tanzania is the chance to experience life in the heart of Africa. There’s plenty to see and do here during your free time on your project.

A project in Tanzania wouldn’t be complete without a safari! This is a chance to see the beautiful wildlife of this country up close, like elephants, rhinos, and lions.

What’s more, Tanzania is home to the highest mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro. Hiking around the base through lush vegetation is a peaceful way to spend an afternoon.

Browsing through a vibrant, local market is a must while you’re there. You can also spend time in a Maasai village, getting to know a completely different way of life.

There will likely be many other volunteers in Tanzania with you. This means you have the option to explore the country independently or with a group of like-minded volunteers from different projects.

Your Arrival Made Easy

When you arrive at your respective airport, a member of Projects Abroad staff will be there to meet you. You can find more detailed information on arrival airports, orientation, and visas on our Tanzania Arrival Procedures page.