Medical elective in Colombia

hola-

just wondering if there are any medical students or doctors out there who would have ideas about doing a medical elective in colombia.

i'm a 5th year student in a 6 year degree and in about a year i will have 3 months to do a medical elective anywhere in the world, assuming i can organise it myself. a friend of mine who i've lost touch with told me a bit about doctoring in bogota, also my favourite author is gabriel garcia marquez, and my spanish is conversational but not great. i've developed a strong desire to see colombia, and i think doing a medical electie there would give me a unique perspective.

would like to find out if it is at all common to have elective students in any hospitals in bogota, and which might be the best for a rotation in emergency medicine, peds/neonatal intensive care, or neurosurgery, which are some things i am interested in. i live in new zealand but was born in the US, so i have a US passport which i imagine might make things easier from a visa perspective. i would be in colombia between September-November 07.

cheers for your help!

-damien

By damienNZ on Jun 11, 2006, 23:51 in Friendly Talkzone.

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ColombiaBoard says on Jun 12, 2006, 21:28: YEs, I think you can I've met some italians doing medical practice in Colombia. The thing is, you have to do that through your university which should contact the colombian university that offers that type of exchange program. Or if you're lucky you can contact a hospital directly and see if they allow you to work there. There are private and government funded hospitals in Colombia. Some are specialiezed in heart medicine, neurological problems, pediatrics. 0 funny, 0 helpful.

irmi says on Nov 12, 2006, 05:45: medical elective I have the same plans as Damien from New Zealand. I'm a medical student from Germany and want to go to Bogotá or Medellin next year December for an elective in either pediatrics or internal medicine. There are heaps of comments from people having done their practical year in other countries in South America, but not in Colombia. Is everyone afraid of going to Colombia? Has anyone already experienced how it is as a foreign student doing part of the practical year in Colombia? 0 funny, 0 helpful.

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