5 Ways to make your statement of objectives count during your hospital internship

5 Ways to make your statement of objectives count during your hospital internship

Travelling abroad for a medical elective, premedical shadowing internship or any other healthcare placement is both an adventurous experience and an educative expedition. Different scholars, school advisors  and study abroad advisors express the consistent view that a hospital internship abroad is unique for its helps the students to:

• Immerse in a new and different culture hence equipping them with essential empathy through dealing with people of different culture and patients with varied conditions.
• Lean more on different disease patterns which is clinically eye opening
• Gain clinical experience which is essential for strengthening of skills as well as a clear view of whether the clinical work and the profession is what they want to delve into.
• To broaden their knowledge through a global view of issues relating to health and healthcare.

While this points are true for any abroad healthcare experience, the importance of have an objective guided learning can never be overstated.

A statement of objectives is a documents that points out to the specific objectives that one seeks to achieve while in their placement. This stipulates the desired areas of learning as well as the desired experiences that one should have while on placement.

To make your experience count and most importantly to make your objectives for the placement count the following are the 5 recommended ways:

• Match your objectives with the school requirements

The school provisions for a clinical placement or a shadowing internships are an important prerequisite. This ensures that you use the objectives to meet school requirements and hence can use the experience to seek for credit.

• Write down your objectives and communicate it to your provider

While it is easy and convenient to communicate your objectives in phone conversations and chats, it’s important to write and share them in a document which can be retrieved and referenced this way you also get to continually examine if you are achieving the objectives as set out.

• Discuss your objectives as part of your pre-departure and pre- experience

While travelling broad, an open book mindset is a great tool, one ought to be open to the possibilities of the real experience and what they have set out to achieve. Discussing your objectives with the provider helps you to be open to the realities of the system you are to experience and further match your objectives with what the systems present.

• Keep revisiting your objectives

To ensure you are achieving what you are set to achieve its important to continually check on your objectives alongside your daily, weekly experiences. Checking your objectives ensures that you stay focused on what you intend to achieve and see if there is an area in your program that you need changed.

• Evaluate your program

Objectives are as good as their summative evaluation, while you have completed your placement abroad it’s important to evaluate the degree and extent to which your objectives were met. This may help you to write a report to your experience and summarize your experience to seek credit for this internship.

Objectives are as important as the placement, having them and following them as much as possible in your experience is important to ensure you have the best experience abroad.  

by Elective Africa