Mercy In Action - Internships Available
Mercy In Action is approved as an "Out of Country" Clinical site by the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM). We are making available to midwifery students, nursing students, medical students, or doula students the opportunity to be matched with Filipina midwives for a clinical internship. These internships will involve assisting the midwife with all aspects of maternity care. Internships are for one or two months at a time. Participants must be prepared to learn independently, and to quickly adapt to working in a developing country setting. Midwifery or medical students can expect to assist in exams and procedures, and assist the midwives at births occurring during their time here. Doula students will get opportunities to use comfort measures to protect natural birth for women throughout the process of labor and delivery, and assist with breastfeeding, postpartum recovery, and care for newborn. The intern will also be involved in clinical experiences such as prenatal exams, newborn exams, post-partum home visits, and well woman exams. Birth numbers cannot be predicted, as this fluctuates, so there can be no guarantee of how many births may occur in a particular month, but on average we have around 15 births per month, and 100 prenatals and 30 postpartum home visits per month.
If interns are qualifying for NARM Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) status, our Filipina midwives are licensed approved preceptors who can sign clinical requirement forms for all areas. We are set up to help students get the qualifying experience they need to eventually sit the NARM exam and become CPMs.
The cost for the internship is US$ 2,000 per month, and that includes housing and clinical experience opportunities, inservices and peer reviews while with us. You will buy and prepare your own food, as we find that everyone takes a different approach to food and tastes vary greatly; markets are nearby the clinic where you will be living, and fresh fruit, vegetables, rice, eggs, chicken and fish are always readily available.
Interns will be expected to buy a round-trip ticket to Manila, Philippines, and pay for their own transportation in country (varies; plan around $100), their visas (can be bought in country for around US$100 per 59 days) and any overnight stays in Manila coming or going (around $50 per night.) If your flight arrives in the evening after around 5 pm, plan on staying overnight in Manila. We will help you make those arrangements. We do not have accommodations for spouses or children, single women only at this time, please.
Application for internship is at the bottom of this page; copy/paste it into an email to info@mercyinaction.com. Have someone who knows you well email us a reference letter. Intern 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 you 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 work with tribal and Muslim families as well.) We hold our own worship services on Sundays
You will also be asked to sign an informed consent before coming, and abide by all the policies and values of Mercy In Action during the internship.
Below you will find some practical instructions if you are to come.
Pay your fees
After acceptance, to hold your spot in the internship program, pay a non-refundable deposit of $500 by no later than 6 weeks after acceptance. The balance will be due 2 months before the first day of the internship. You must pay in full before you book your airline travel.
The best and easiest way to pay is through this website:
You can pay on-line by going to the Training Fees & Donation page on this web site:
CLICK HERE TO PAY
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 and tubing. 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:
Name:
Address:
City, State, Zip:
Email:
Phone:
Age:
Birth date:
Sex:
Single or married:
Spouses name if married:
Children, names and ages: (these questions are just to know you better; at this time we are not able to accommodate families coming together)
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:(This is who we will notify if any emergency)
Church name and denomination, if any:
Health care field currently involved in:
Education, including degrees or training:
Are you applying for Midwifery or Doula Internship?
Will you be doing the NARM PEP Process or an accredited school paperwork while here?
If accredited school, please give name and contact number
Tell us about past experience, if any. Please tell us how many births you have already attended in the following catagories, so we know where to place you: Observes______Assists________Primaries________. If you are just starting out, tell us this. If you are nearing the end of your requrements and hoping to turn in your NARM application on a certain date, tell us. Be detailed here about what you are expecting in the way of hands-on experience,
Applying for one or two month Internship?
First choice of training dates?
Second choice of training dates?
Third choice of training dates?
Are you flexible within two or three weeks? We try to start all new interns on the first of the month. Tell us if you need specific dates to match your vacation time or other circumstances.
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. If so, we will email you with with more details before final acceptance into our Philippine intership program.
Intern Resources:
Birth Book - Olongapo
Students should download and print 25 copies of these pages, back to front, and bring with you.