Mercy In Action - Internships Available
Mercy In Action is making available to midwifery students,medical students, or doula students the opportunity to be matched with one of our Filipina midwives for a hands-on clinical internship. This can meet the requirements of your educational need for participating in birth and pregnancy and newborn care. We can take an intern for anywhere from one to three months. Students must be prepared to learn independently, and to quickly adapt to working with national midwives (who will be culturally different in their actions and thoughts, often shy, and who may not talk a lot or verbally teach much, but these midwives have worked with foreign students before and are very generous with allowing the students hands on experience.) Midwifery or Medical students can expect to get to assist the labors and in most cases "catch" the babies born during their time here. Doula students will get many chances to doula women throughout the process of labor and postpartum recovery, as well as help care for newborns. The intern will also be involved in clinical experiences such as prenatal exams, newborn exams, post-partum home visits,
and well woman exams. Births are any where from 6 to 20 per month, but this fluctuates. If interns are students with the National College of Midwifery in the United States, or doing the PEP process for NARM, our Filipina midwives are licensed approved preceptors who can sign clinical requirement forms.
The cost is US$ 2,000 per month, and that includes housing, where they will live with a Licensed Philippine Midwife preceptor to sign them off on their clinical experience. Students will be expected to buy a round-trip ticket to Manila, Philippines, and pay for their own transportation in country (around $100), their visas (can be bought in country for around US$50 a month) and buy and prepare their own food ( a kitchen with refrigerator, stove, and pots and pans is provided, that way they can cook what they like,) but some meals will be in community, also. Married students applying to come with a husband or children will be responsible to arrange for their own housing.
Students who want to apply can can fill up an application at the bottom of this page, and copy/paste it into an email to mercymissions@gmail.com They will need to be accepted and pay all fees in advance of buying a ticket to Manila. Students of any (or no) faith background can apply, but they should know that we are a Christian faith-based NGO here in the Philippines, and usually our midwives pray with the patients and everyone is pretty open about doing this. Most of this country is Catholic (we have occasional Muslim or tribal families as well.) Below you will find some practical instructions if you are to come.
Pay your fees in full after receiving your acceptance letter, before you book your airline travel.
You can pay on-line by going to the Training Fees & Donation page on this web site:
CLICK HERE TO PAY
Or you can pay by check or money order in US dollars and mail to our USA headquarters:
Mercy In Action
PO Box 2777
Paso Robles, CA 93447
Get a passport if you do not already have one that is good for at least 6 months past your planned travel time. You can get your first passport or renew your old one by going to a post office or going on line at : http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html
Purchase a ticket to fly into Manila, Philippines. Many airlines fly into Manila, you can ask your travel agent, or use our Mercy In Action travel agent:
Barbara Lambert at Bon Voyage Travel:
Phone :800-800-8511
E-mail: barbara@bonvoyagetravelintl.com
Bring money to exchange at the airport when you depart for your international flight. At most airports that have international flights there is a booth to change your money into Philippine pesos. Bring enough money for buying food, and maybe some for the wonderful native baskets, jewelry, sarongs, and other souvenirs you can buy inexpensively here. If you are unable to change money before leaving North America, we can help you exchange it here, but it is better and easier to have pesos you can use right when you arrive.
Pack light, you must be able to carry all your own luggage without assistance. The only exception is if you bring donated supplies with you we will pay for a porter to help you. (see below). All the clothes you need will fit in a back-back. Bring a few sets of tee shirts and shorts, or tank tops and skirts, and a swim suit. Pack some mosquito spray and sunscreen, and any prescription medicines you are taking. Just a pair of sandals, and one sweater or light jacket for on the plane or the malls, and you should be set!
Bring medical donations in your luggage to bless the mission of Mercy In Action. The items we need most are gloves, both sterile and non-sterile, gauze pads, chux underpads, K-Y jelly, and prenatal or multi-vitamins tablets and iron. All of these can be bought at Wal-mart or any drug store, (cheap there, especially if you buy generic versions--but very expensive and hard to find here!) or you may be able to ask your doctor or dentist for donations, especially of medical gloves, absorbable sutures, 1cc and 3cc syringes, and IV needles. We are also in need of good pregnancy herbs like Alfalfa tablets, Goldenseal capsules, red raspberry leaf tea, shepard's purse, and the like. Thank you in advance!
Participant Review:
"I absolutely loved working at the birth clinic this past summer. I had read books about midwifery, but with Mercy in Action, I got the first-hand experience I needed. The midwives were wonderful—they got me involved right away with prenatals and postpartums. The first birth I witnessed was incredible, but it was even more amazing to catch a baby for the first time. I cannot describe how valuable this experience was to me; I learned more about midwifery at the birth clinic than I could have ever learned here in the States."
-Johanna Bone
Application
Send in your application:
You may now apply by email. From this application page, click, copy and paste these questions into the body of an email, fill it out and email it in.
Application Form Questions:
Are you applying for Midwifery or Doula Internship?
Will you be doing the NARM PEP Process?,
Will you be doing the National College of Midwifery program?
First choice of training dates?
Second choice of training dates?
Third choice of training dates?
Are you flexible within two or three weeks?
Applying for one, two, or three month Internship?
Name:
Address:
City, State, Zip:
Email:
Phone:
Age:
Birth date:
Sex:
Single or married:
Spouses name if married:
Children, names and ages:
Occupation:
Height:
Weight:
Blood type:
Any current health problems?
On any medications now?
Is there anything you will not eat?
How would you rate your health and stamina?
Are you current on immunizations and boosters?
Emergency contact, name and phone:
Church name:
Denomination:
Health care currently involved in:
Education:
How did you hear about Mercy In Action?
Who do you know who has attended in the past?
What expectations do you have for this course?
What do you hope to do after your time with us?
Write a short biography, include your interest in health care, your relationship with God, goals, any addictions or areas of character you are working on, and anything else you would like to tell us about your hopes, fears, special circumstances, future dreams, etc.
Have someone who knows you well send a letter of reference by email.
We will look at the dates you are available and tell you if there is a match.