Dar es Salaam offers the perfect mix of opportunities that come from living in a cosmopolitan city, with the ultimate traveller’s paradise beckoning from across the water. Just an hour from the mainland, Zanzibar’s white sands and turquoise waters are a mecca for divers, backpackers and party-goers. Travel inland and you will find once-in-a-lifetime safari opportunities.

The Work the World House

Living in the Dar es Salaam house will be a highlight of clinical placement in Tanzania. It will start to feel like home from day one. The house’s atmosphere is social - you’ll live with other healthcare students and graduates from different countries and disciplines.

You’ll find the house in the north of the city and just a stone’s throw from the Indian Ocean. The building is spacious and decorated with traditional African carvings.

You’ll enjoy both private and communal spaces, and there’s an outdoor pool on the grounds. In the evenings, walk for a few minutes and arrive at the seafront shops, bars and restaurants.

In the broader area, you can visit traditional craft markets, and catch boats going on snorkelling and whale-watching trips.

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In-Country Team

Management team: Based in the house, they oversee your entire clinical placement — 24/7 — from the moment you land to the moment you leaveCatering team: Cook a variety of both local cuisine and familiar home comforts, accommodating all dietary requirementsHousekeeper: Keeps the house clean and tidy from top to bottom, making sure you're comfortableLanguage teacher: Visits the house twice per-week. During their lessons, you’ll learn everyday phrases and clinical terminology to help you get more from your placementSecurity team: Monitor the house 24/7 for your peace of mind

Placements in Dar es Salaam

Medical Placements, Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)

Medical Electives

In Dar es Salaam, HIV and related cases are much bigger issues than in Australia. To get insight into how the condition is treated in a low-resource environment, you can attend a specialised HIV clinic. Of course, you can also see how Tanzanian doctors approach practice in more familiar areas like paediatrics, surgical wards like neurosurgery, and the infectious diseases unit. Speaking of infectious diseases, both communicable and non-communicable diseases are treated in the emergency department, with little attention paid to infection control. You can also spend time on the psychiatric ward and in anaesthesiology, both of which offer exceptional opportunities.

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Midwifery Placement, Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)

Midwifery Placements

We have excellent relationships with national and regional hospitals in Dar es Salaam, one of which is the largest tertiary referral hospital in the country. The maternity ward here is busy, and offers you the chance to spend time learning about the local approach to labour in OBG. However, the placement is not limited to this — you can also get involved in areas like neonatal intensive care.

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Physiotherapy Placement, Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)

Physiotherapy Placements

In Dar es Salaam, the biggest causes of critical injury are road traffic accidents. The standards of road safety and traffic etiquette here are somewhat distinct from what you’re used to. As a result, many more traffic accidents occur, and the range of injuries you’ll see is diverse. In our main partner hospital — a dedicated orthopaedic institute — you’ll see patients who have been admitted as a result of mining accidents, spinal injuries, and serious strokes among others.

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Nursing Placement, Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)

Nursing Placements

Clinical provision in our partner hospitals in Dar es Salaam is among the best in Tanzania. This means that nursing students like you can draw on the unique well of knowledge offered by local nurses. You can focus in on areas as specific as paediatric HIV. Or, if you wish to get a broader, interdepartmental understanding of nursing in Tanzania, you have the option to do so. With a broad range of clinical specialties available, the choice is entirely yours.

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Medical Placements, Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)

Paramedic Science Placements

Tanzania lacks financial resources across the board and so it can rarely afford to develop its healthcare system. For some context, the emergency department in our partner hospital was only established in 2010. As this is the only emergency department of its kind in all of Tanzania, some emergency cases are referred from many hours’ drive away. For some patients, a few hours will be too late. The department is always busy, and local staff work shifts, so you’ll get face time with lots of different staff and get a breadth of experience.

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Radiography Placement, Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)

Radiography Placements

As a radiography student, you’ll immediately notice the lack of resource in Dar es Salaam. For example, there is a severe lack of equipment for imaging and treating cancers. Radiotherapy is rarely offered in hospitals, so patients often have to travel far and wide to institutions specialising in cancer care. Fortunately our partner hospital is one such institution. As well as cancers, you’ll see fractures, trauma, road traffic accidents, and cases relating to tuberculosis and HIV among others. You’ll also witness a stark contrast in the procedural aspects of your field. For example, patients are often treated without immobilisation.

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Dentistry Placement, Tanzania (Arusha)

Dentistry Electives

We are partnered with one of Dar es Salaam’s finest tertiary referral hospitals. You’ll spend time in the busy dental department, focusing in on areas like oral surgery, oral pathology and oral medicine. You might also get some experience with preventative dentistry, prosthodontics, periodontology and cariology. This experience offers you the chance to see cases typical of Tanzania. For example, many patients suffer from dental fluorosis as a result of water contamination and poor diet.

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Occupational Therapy Placement, Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)

Occupational Therapy Placements

Trained professionals hailing from a number of disciplines staff our partner hospital’s rehabilitative medicine department. The department is set up to receive both inpatients and outpatients. You can get experience with an occupational therapy team stationed in the ICU, and you’ll have the opportunity to conduct home visits. Typical cases you can see include strokes, cerebral palsy, back pain, neuropathies, nerve injuries, contractures, arthritis, and post eclampsia to name a few.

+ More OT Placements

VILLAGE HEALTHCARE WEEK

To deepen your appreciation of Tanzanian culture and healthcare, you can choose to add an extra week to the end of your placement to live with a family in a rural fishing village in the northern region of the paradise island of Zanzibar, just off the coast of Dar es Salaam. Each morning, you’ll head to a busy district hospital. Here, you’ll gain insight into how local staff treat cases of everything from malaria to snake bites. The experience will perfectly complement your city-based placement on the mainland. In your free time, you’ll take part in many local activities. This includes cycling to the fish market and white-sand beaches, learning about rehabilitating turtles, visiting the local herbalist, and learning about the spice trade which is an intricate part of Zanzibarian life.

"It was interesting to see what emergencies were prevalent in Tanzania compared to the UK..."

Charlotte Smith, Anglia Ruskin University 2024

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"Each weekend we would travel in small groups and go on some amazing excursions such as swimming with wild dolphins and relaxing on white sand beaches".

Chlöe Irvine , University of Central Lancashire 2024

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"During the three weeks I was there I was able to spend a weekend in Zanzibar and a weekend doing the safari. On my first weekend, me and the girls in my room all went to Zanzibar via the ferry".

Elle Anderson, Bradford University 2024

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"On placement, I learned how thermoplastic splints were made - they melted and moulded down PVC material to make splints which I thought was such an innovative idea".

Charlotte Eastick, University of Sunderland 2024

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"Patients in Tanzania have to pay for their hospital bills themselves. This means they present with much more advanced conditions than what I would see at home, it was eye-opening". 

Rhona Loxton , Queen's University Belfast 2024

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WHAT HEALTHCARE DISCIPLINES DO WORK THE WORLD CATER FOR?

Work the World organise supervised medical electives and clinical placements for the following disciplines: - 1. Medical  2. Nursing 3. Midwifery 4. Physiotherapy 5. Radiography 6. Pharmacy 7. Dentistry 8. Occupational Therapy 9. Paramedic Science

WHAT IS THE WORK THE WORLD HOUSE LIKE IN DAR ES SALAAM

The house Dar es Salaam is located only a stone’s throw from the Indian Ocean. The building itself is spacious, decorated with traditional African carvings, has private and communal spaces, and an outdoor pool on the grounds. You’re also only a couple of minutes walk from seafront shops and restaurants.

WHAT TRAVELLING OPPORTUNITIES ARE THERE FOR ME WHILST I’M IN TANZANIA?

Dar es Salaam offers the perfect mix of opportunities that come from living in a cosmopolitan city, with the ultimate traveller’s paradise beckoning from across the water. Just an hour from the mainland, Zanzibar’s white sands and turquoise waters are a mecca for divers, backpackers and party-goers. Travel inland and you will find once-in-a-lifetime safari opportunities.