Georgia Langdown

It had always been an interest of mine to work abroad once I’d finished my degree, but I was unsure of where I’d go and how I'd feel being away from home. I saw an overseas elective with Work the World as an opportunity to experience delivering healthcare abroad, and it would also help me overcome the challenge of being away from home.

Work the World were brilliant — any questions I had while we were planning my trip together were answered straight away, and they sent me lots of great information, which made everything much easier. When I logged into MyTrip (Work the World’s online placement planner), I found the itinerary to be very helpful as well.

There were plenty of social spaces in the house, and we were free to go out and explore when we didn’t feel like staying in. The bedrooms were of a good size with lots of space for all our belongings. And the meals were excellent every day! The house was conveniently located, with our placement hospital just a short walk away. It was also near shops and restaurants for when we wanted to eat out.

During my hospital placement, I observed the most significant differences in healthcare delivery in the Emergency Department. Patients weren’t thoroughly examined until they or their family had purchased the required equipment or medication. When the department was complete, patients had to share beds, and families provided all personal care, rather than relying on the nursing staff.

During our time off, we explored Kathmandu, visited various temples, and went out for lunch, dinner and drinks in Thamel — a busy nightlife district in Kathmandu. We even spent a weekend in Chitwan National Park going on safari. One of the trip's highlights was waking up early for placement one morning and then flying around Mt. Everest. We also went up the cable cars and got some fantastic views.

In the last week of my placement, I went on Work the World’s village healthcare week. I was nervous to start with, but Samir (Work the World’s village guide) was supportive throughout and made us laugh so many times every day. Speaking of staff, I had the opportunity to talk with almost all members of the Work the World team daily, and they were consistently very kind and supportive.

The experience will stay with me forever. My confidence has grown, and I managed to see and accomplish so many new things while I was in Nepal. I also made some of the most amazing friends, whom I will never forget.

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