Awful Company

I would advise others to stay well clear of Gap Medics. They are very good at having a slick image and have a good reputation but unfortunately not all is as it seems. I fell for the appearances and I had a terrible experience with Gap Medics. I feel the company is more interested in financial gain rather than actually creating a positive and beneficial experience for their customers. I went to Croatia, Pula for two weeks in June 2015 for the pre-midwifery course which I was really looking forward to. I am afraid my trip was not what I expected at all. I chose to leave on my fourth day and return home because it was so stressful and so not as described.

I was told I would be in the Hospital Monday to Friday but in actual fact I was only going to have 2 day shifts and 1 night shift each week. In the disorganised and noisy house it became immediately apparent it would have been impossible to sleep during the day to make up for the sleep missed during the night shift anyhow.

I understand that the trip is purely observational and that it is impossible to control the number of births in a hospital. The day I went to the hospital the mentor did not have anywhere near enough to show us and it consisted of hours and hours sitting on a bench waiting for something to observe. I tried to be proactive during the hospital placement but there was very little to see and thus we got sent home early. Gap Medics could not cope with the number of students arriving and could not provide the quality service we paid for. There were three of us students shadowing one mentor midwife in the hospital and so the mentor was overwhelmed and as students we could not get the amount of attention needed.
The website portrays that pastoral care is valued by Gap medics, however I found the staff team to be unapproachable, unsupportive and lacked the skills to work with young people. They were stressed and understaffed; there were only two staff members. One staff member took an aggressive and defensive attitude, seemingly because there were considerable problems in delivering what was meant to be given by the Gap Medics experience. I raised my issues with the trip when I was there but it was pretty much dismissed.

I found Gap Medics website to be misleading. There were also absolutely no 24 hour security guards as advertised. In fact at one point another girl and I were completely alone at the house. It needs to be more transparent and honest.

The whole trip is enormously overpriced and I am unable to see where the money I paid for this trip has gone. There are also extra hidden costs e.g. needing to purchase your own scrubs, googles, gloves, facemasks and hairnets which you are not informed of once you have signed up. Only once I had paid the registration fee of £290 did I also find out that many meals are not included in the price. Over the weekends Friday eve to Sunday lunch there are no meals provided. You are supposed to eat out or you can ask for the chef to supply the cupboards although I found them to be low stocked. There is an expectation to bring money for lunch. I could make and take my own packed lunched there was, however, very little choice for the lunches.

The actual accommodation was very poor and not the house that I was told we would be staying in when I booked. The accommodation felt crowded and hectic, it was definitely not “spacious” and did not “comfortably accommodate up to 40 students” as described on the website. There was no air-conditioning in our small bedroom, which contained two bunk beds for four; it was claustrophobic and this made sleeping difficult. It was also unfortunately placed in the middle of the social area and therefore very noisy. This was not a space to be able to relax or recoup in. The house was bare, uninviting and had no facilities which had been described on the website such as a swimming pool or even shower curtains. I am aware that Gap medics only moved into the new house 2 weeks prior to me staying. The beds were assembled the day before we moved in and we had no wardrobes to use. Unfortunately, the poor organisation during the transition period of moving to another student house has meant that I have suffered. We should not have be placed in the house until it was properly established. It actually took more like an hour to walk to the hospital in the heat rather than the advertised 20 minutes. I could have paid for a taxi but again this would have increased the cost of the trip. Some students even stayed in a hotel just to get some sleep!

I know that many of the other students were also disappointed with the service provided and expressed unhappiness which further supports my claim. This shows that my experience is not an isolated event. I made official complaints to Gap Medics. They took months to even reply and only responded when I had contacted The Times paper. I did not receive a refund let alone any compensation. I would just like to warn others that not everybody has a good experience with this company and if you complain they are not supportive. Had I known the truth I definitely would not have booked onto the course.