Program Reviews

Michael, Berny and their families were amazing hosts. They were all lovely people, easy to talk to and happy to help whenever we needed something. They really made us feel at home. The accommodation provided all basic necessities. The hospital placement was a great opportunity for overseas medical students to learn a lot of things we would have seen otherwise. Some of the doctors were really happy to teach and if we were lucky to follow one of them, there was so much to learn! A variety of extra activities and excursions were also organised which was a great way to bond with the group and explore the country. Transport was provided for all the organised activities and it was pretty flexible if you wanted to stay back or go exploring outside the organised activities. Overall a great experience!

Overall trip was great. Berny was an amazing host and Michael was incredibly helpful. No really significant improvements needed besides having more organised activities - some community days had a balance between clinical teaching and interactions with locals, whereas other days were all clinical and no interactions.

The trip provided me with an eye-opening experience of a unique culture and country so extraordinarily different from Australia. From the food to the temples and beaches, the colourful vibrant atmosphere of Sri Lanka was emphasised through the smiles of its locals and individuality of its culture, despite being a developing nation with potential for positive growth.

Being exposed to a clinical environment that’s of a different standard to Australian healthcare and as well as learning about the country’s less fortunate youths has put into perspective two different worlds.

Michael, Berny and their families were great hosts and lovely people, they were easy to talk to and always ready to help whenever we needed something. They really made us feel at home. The accommodation was good, all basic necessities were supplied, the rooms could get quite hot sometimes and sometimes there were power outages, but this wasn't a big issue. Transport was provided for all organised activities and was quite flexible. We could even organise transport for extra things we wanted to do through Michael which was very helpful. The hospital placements were a great learning opportunity for medical students, the doctors were aware of our position and purpose in the hospital and were usually happy to help, although this depended on their character and how busy they were. Most of us ended up rotating departments by the end of the week although we were initially told we couldn't do this. This could have been better organised to facilitate everyones interests and equal number of students in each group.

The programme was inspiring and eventful. Our host, Michael was supportive and very helpful. The hospital segment was useful in certain aspects. I was posted to surgery and while it was interesting to watch the surgeons, there was a language barrier and the surgeons are focused on their patients, making our learning harder. This opened my eyes to the different healthcare system in Sri Lanka and the limited resources that the public hospitals have. It was rather hard to communicate with the Sri Lankan’s as there was a language barrier. It was also interesting to see the contrast between the state of the hospital in Galle and the hospitals we have back in Sydney.

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My week at the hospital has been very wholesome. I got a great insight on the medical systems in Sri Lanka. I listened to at least 7 heart murmurs in 5 days, that’s more than I’ve ever listened to in two years of medical school. Most of what I got through hospital was self directed. The doctors can be very busy but, are quite willing to teach. However, whether you ask the doctors to teach you and seem interested in it is only up to you. Micheal was a great host. He was very friendly and approachable, and his family made me feel like I was at home. The facilities met the standards band I really appreciate their hospitality! The driving was quite fast and felt a bit dangerous, however looks like most driving in Sri Lanka is quite fast. I was afraid of mosquitos but there were insecticides being sprayed. Looks like there was a solution for every problem. Overall I really enjoyed this trip so far!

Michael and Bernie were lovely hosts, opening their homes with great food and hospitality. They really went above and beyond to make sure our stay was comfortable and safe such as organising Tuk tuks. However, I would’ve liked to know where the money from this trip was going towards as 1200 AUD in Sri Lanka is a surmountable amount. Moreover community activities needed to be better organised as we were left not knowing what or daily activities were.

Michael and Bernie were lovely hosts, opening their homes with great food and hospitality. They really went above and beyond to make sure our stay was comfortable and safe such as organising Tuk tuks. However, I would’ve liked to know where the money from this trip was going towards as 1200 AUD in Sri Lanka is a surmountable amount. Moreover community activities needed to be better organised as we were left not knowing what or daily activities were.

I really enjoyed this trip. It was very safe and entertaining while being able to help the community. Language barriers and the locals heavily ripping off the tourists were a problem but other than that, i throughpy enjoyed the trip and would definitely recommend this trip to other people.

We're excited to hear more! For example: share why your experience was unique. What would future participants want to know? How did this impact your life post-program? Tell us about any useful tips, your favorite memory, etc.

We're excited to hear more! For example: share why your experience was unique. What would future participants want to know? How did this impact your life post-program? Tell us about any useful tips, your favorite memory, etc.

Thanks.

MOA in conjunction with go overseas did an amazing job in organising this programme, which not only benefited me academically but also socially. It taught me the different ways of life, made me meet such wonderful people like Michael and his family! It has been the most wholesome experience of my life as of yet and I’m loving it! Would definitely recommend it to all the people out there! As of now, I am very happy with the content of the program and am eagerly waiting for the coming one week ( to serve the community ). The home we are staying in is very nice in terms of good care and support! The people are wonderful and they’ve been extremely caring! If I were to do this again I’d definitely come and stay with them since it’s cheaper and better. In terms of the content of the program, it’s well organised and well put as well!

I have been volunteering for an health program in a hospital in Kathmandu for 3 weeks by now. I am an authorized docter who has been working as a doctor in 2 years after my internship. It was very interesting to observe how they worked in the hospital and I felt I did learn about some rare diseases that I had only read about in the books before. The staff of the hospital was very nice and friendly and if showed enough interest they would always answer me. I have to be honest that I didn't really felt like I was a resource for the hospital, they had enough staff and didn't really need an extra person around to help them. They did everything on their own. I did some nursing assignment in order to keep my self bussy. But after second week I felt like I didn't have so much to do there, I think its because once your are used to work as a doctor its hard to just stay and watch for long time. That is my opinion about the medical program, its more suited for students then doctors in practice. Or in that case for shorter period for doctors. On the other hand, I am really interested in culture and people around. And that I got most of through this program. I loved living with an host family and having my coordinator so close and available all the time. They were very kind and friendly. It gave me a great opportunity to learn about the country, religions, the living and food culture in the very closest way. That is something I really appreciate. They helped me with what I wanted to and were very flexible and understanding, something that made me continue staying here after the second week even though I wasn't sure I was very much of health care resource in the hospital.

I've really enjoyed my stay in Sri Lanka so far and am looking forward for the rest of the week. Micheal and his family have been an amazing hosts and have really taken care of us. The first week of community outreach experience has overall be good. One of the experiences I really enjoyed was learning from the doctor about a case that she had pre planned for us. This session at the orphanage was well organised and quite informative. Spending time at the rehab with the girls was very valuable as well. I found that planned sessions by the doctors really aided my learning. Activities such as going to the Yala National Park, Cinnamon island, Still fishing and Turtle hatchery were very enjoyable and gave me the opportunity to also explore Sri Lanka along with the educational experience.