Midwifery Internships: Intern abroad in Arusha, Tanzania

Internship details

Midwifery interns in Tanzania gain practical skills and experience assisting local professionals in all aspects of their work with new and expectant mothers. Interns assist in busy maternity and delivery wards, helping to build strong relationships and collaborating with qualified medical teams, as they work to deliver premium care before, during and after childbirth.

This is an in-country internship, with accommodation and meals provided.

In Tanzania, a high infant mortality rate has led the government to prioritize efforts to ensure that babies are being delivered safely and mothers are provided with adequate care and support. Women who live in under-developed rural areas are considered especially at risk, due to restricted access to healthcare facilities. As a midwifery intern, you’ll assist alongside local midwives and medical professionals in all aspects of their service provision for new and expectant mothers, building trusting relationships that foster safe births and healthy babies.

This internship provides an exciting chance to gain practical skills for your career, learning from qualified professionals and experiencing the daily routines of midwives in Tanzania. You’ll gain experience in antenatal classes, maternity and delivery wards, observing and assisting local midwives as they go about day-to-day tasks. Midwifery interns learn about proper pre-birthing techniques and how to teach them to groups and individual mothers. You’ll also gain an understanding of treatment for conditions such as obstetric haemorrhage, eclampsia, obstructed labour and infections.

Interns are able to gain experience providing care before, during and after childbirth. However, it’s important to understand that your ability to be present during births will depend on your demonstrated expertise and the extent of your observation, and participation will be at the discretion of the mother. If you are able to experience a birth, you should expect to simply be assisting your supervisor in a hands-off role.

Even if you aren’t present for a childbirth, you’ll be able to debrief with your supervisor to gain an understanding of what happened, and to learn about any specialist treatments that may have been required. There are still amazing learning opportunities in providing support, compassion, care and companionship to pregnant women and new mothers, with their infants, during a very special time in their life.

Note that supervision on these internships is handled by a range of medical professionals. Interns must expect to work in a multidisciplinary team. Depending on your medical department and variations of your daily roster, this may include nursing teams, doctors, or other department heads. Such team members are in the best position to provide guidance, direction, and answer questions as it will pertain to current duties and responsibilities. Therefore, there is not one sole supervisor throughout, as interns interact with a range of local staff in various positions, deferring to their expertise and instruction. Outside of the placement supervision, interns additionally have access to support from the Program Director, who oversees placement allocation.

For all midwifery interns in Tanzania, it’s important to have a realistic expectation of the healthcare environment you’ll be experiencing. Many healthcare and medical facilities in Tanzania are under-resourced, and patients endure conditions that are in stark contrast to what you would expect in your home country. This internship provides a unique learning opportunity and you will be encouraged to reflect on your cultural intelligence, to develop your self-awareness and cross cultural communication skills. Interns must remain professional and compassionate at all times and proactively look to assist wherever your help is required, particularly in times where the workload is less than you may expect. This internship is conducted in English. However, you can expect that some patient interactions will be carried out in local languages.

It is important to note that the internship placements grouped as “Medical” require interns to make a Ministry of Health contribution. This supports the operation of placements and covers supervision for interns on medical-related placements. This contribution is not included in the internship program fee; it must be made directly, in-country, under the direction and guidance of the Program Coordinator in Arusha. Interns will not be permitted to commence their placement until this has been covered. The amount of the Ministry of Health contribution varies, as it is not the same for every clinic/hospital. However, to cover the contribution sufficiently, we ask interns to budget up to US$75 per week.

In all cases, interns should expect that the first week of your experience will focus on settling in and gaining some introductory knowledge, as you will not “hit the ground running”. Rather, you should start with learning about the placement to gain an understanding of what you can build upon, develop, learn, and contribute. Ensure that you ask questions and provide feedback during the introductory period, so that your supervisor understands how you’re progressing. This will help them to better understand important details, such as how quickly you learn, what you find challenging, what you find interesting, etc.

Understand and expect that individual internship experiences vary, as the specific placement that you’re assigned will depend on review of your resume and your current level of studies and experience. Therefore, if you’re at a more introductory level, you should reasonably expect a more introductory internship. Likewise, if you’re interning for a shorter duration, you will have a different experience from someone who is interning for a longer duration. Placement preferences are considered but always subject to availability.

Typical Schedule

• Approximately Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm. It is important to understand that flexibility is a key requirement for this internship placement, as the unpredictable nature of patient flows in clinics and hospitals can lead to irregularities in the timing of treatments/procedures. This means that there may be days which are very busy, as well as slower days if patient workload is lighter. Interns should be adaptable, proactive and willing to help where it’s needed. You will be welcome to adapt your schedule or contribute extra hours, provided that discussion and agreement to do so takes place between you and your coordinator/supervisor. Some weekend and night shift work may be required.

What are the career benefits of interning abroad as a Midwifery Intern?