HOW DID YOU ORGANISE YOUR INTERNSHIP IN IFAKARA, TANZANIA?

I organised it via the Swiss Tropical Institute. I directly contacted the head of the institute and sent in my application. I got invited to Basel for an interview. After that I got in touch with PD Dr. Maja Weisser who then introduced me to Dr. Anna, a German doctor working in Ifakara for almost two years. Anna organised my accomodation via the hospital, helped me with the train tickets and with the Business Visa. Another option would be to contact St. Francis Referral Hospital directly, e.g. Dr. Gingo.

HOW DID YOU PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE INTERNSHIP IN IFAKARA?

Health and safety-wise: I had most of my vaccines done already. The safest option is to visit safetravel.ch or go to your local tropical institute and do a consultation.

Organization-wise: I started organizing accomodation, visa etc. about 5 months before departure. Mainly because I was travelling and moving houses in the months to come. 

Knowledge-wise: I downloaded loads of infectiology and tropical diseases books on my laptop to read whilst I'm there. In hindsight I should have read up on HIV a bit more in detail beforehand to advance quicker once I was in Ifakara.

WHAT ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES WERE YOU ALLOWED TO DO AT THE HOSPITAL?

This varied a lot comparing the beginning and the end of my internship. In the beginning (first 2 weeks), I was mostly observing and learning about HIV and its treatment regimes.
When I was a little bit more advanced (3-6 weeks), I could participate in discussions on rounds and propose my own treatment strategies.
In the end (7-13 weeks) I had learned enough that I could see patients by myself, even do consultations in swahili. Occasionally, there was the chance to do an ascites puncture, lumbar puncture or even a chest tube.