Program location
Ishaka Adventist Hospital is a 110-bed mission hospital located approximately 350 km southwest of the capital city of Kampala. The hospital campus is located on a hill overlooking a bustling trade town.
Climate/weather
Uganda enjoys a tropical climate. Due to the country’s high altitude, temperatures in some parts of the country can be quite cool despite its position on the equator. There is heavy rain between March and May and between October and November. The dry season is December through February and June through late August. At the hospital, rainfall is fairly distributed year-round except for the months from May to July. The weather is generally cool during the day and significantly colder in the evenings (like autumn temperatures in California).
Mailing address
Ishaka Adventist Hospital, P.O. Box 111, Bushenyi, Uganda
Program description
Depending on skill level, medical students will make daily ward rounds with doctors and clinical officers (Pas). Students will admit and discharge patients, initiate treatment for the most common illnesses (under supervision) such as RTI, UTI, and malaria, see outpatients, and assist at minor and major surgeries. Students will also have the opportunity to give health education lectures in nearby schools, prisons, clinics, and churches.
The hospital has a total of six outreach clinics, which students will have the opportunity to visit. At these clinics, activities include immunizations, well baby check-ups, antenatal and postnatal care, nutrition education, and other community outreach activities.
Services offered at the site
Languages
English is the official language of Uganda. However, other languages such as Kiswahili, Buganda, and Banyoro are more commonly spoken by the native population. At the hospital, 90 percent of hospital staff are English speakers while a smaller percentage (25%) of patients speak English.
Accommodations
Participants will be lodged in a hospital guesthouse. With regard to meals, participants are responsible for cooking their own meals in the guesthouse cooking facility. Fresh tropical fruits such as bananas, pineapples, and papayas are grown locally and available for purchase at fresh-food markets. Fresh vegetables are also in abundance. If participants prefer, it is possible to hire a cook to prepare daily meals for duration of the stay. The fee for hired help is approximately $10.00/week. Bottled water is available for purchase.
Transportation to site
Participants are responsible for arranging their own air travel to the international airport in Kampala, Uganda. The hospital recommends that students take public transportation to the hospital, as it is much more cost-effective. A taxicab from the airport to the downtown bus station costs approximately $25.00. Participants can then purchase a bus ticket from Kampala to Gimbie for $6.00. The bus trip will take 4-5 hours on tarmac roads. If, however, participants prefer to be picked up by hospital staff, the hospital can send a car to the airport for a cost of $200.00 round trip.
Eligibility
This site recruits students and professionals in the following fields: medicine, dentistry, nursing, international public health, health administration, health promotion, nutrition/dietetics, laboratory technology, medicals records, and other non-health related fields.
Program fee
Program fees include food, lodging, and transport from the arrival airport to the site. Program fees do not include air travel or personal travel while in the country. The following costs are approximate and subject to change in conjunction with the site.
| Housing cost: | $5.00/night |
| Food cost: | $5.00/day |
| Transport to site fee: | $30.00 via taxi/bus or $100 via hospital car (each way) |
| Estimated total cost: | $400.00 |
Country information
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
Entry requirements
http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/brochures/brochures_1229.html#p
Last Revised: Wed, Jan 10, 2007
