Great Shadowing Experience

This opportunity was given to me by a partnership between my university (Princeton University) and Elective Africa. I worked in Levolosi Health Center, a public clinic in Arusha, mainly in the minor theater, where I assisted and later oversaw other performing minor procedures such as cleaning/dressing wounds, sutures, and circumcisions. The doctor in charge of the theater, Dr. Jonas, was very informative and kind, and instructed us in basic skills such as changing dressings and wrapping wounds at first, and later more complicated tasks such as assisting directly in circumcisions. Since I had an 8 week internship, for the first few weeks I was mainly involved in observing the doctor, but later felt more comfortable to assist the doctor directly, such as handing tools needed during circumcisions and stopping any bleeding areas. Later the other interns and I organized a fundraiser from friends and family to raise money, which was then used to by supplies that the hospital constantly lacked, such as gloves, gauze, and surgical tools.

The accommodations are quite nice, and the staff does a good job to make sure everyone is well taken care of and has all they need. For example, despite having electricity and water problems, our local coordinator would be ready to answer our phone calls and come to the residence to fix the issue.

Josh Wang

Princeton University