email for available dates:
mercymissions@gmail.com
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 one student at a time, 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 don't 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, post-partum exams, newborn exams, and well woman exams. Births are any where from 6 to 20 per month, but this fluctuates. If students are studying with the National College of Midwifery in the United States, or doing the PEP process for NARM, all our Filipina midwives are licensed approved preceptors who can sign clinical requirement forms. For the student that signs up to come for 2 to 3 months, we can also arrange a hospital rotation, if they desire, with a busy maternity hospital in Manila where they can observe dozens of births, observe cesarean deliveries, and conduct newborn and postpartum exams, as well as assist in the NICU and Kangaroo preemie ward.
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 (not very expensive), 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... a wonderful open market with fresh tropical fruits and vegetables is within walking distance, as is a fully stocked mainstream grocery store.)
Students who want to apply can can fill up an application on the www.mercyinaction web site. 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 Donation page on the home page of our 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!
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