Doctors Follows Group Medical Internship
Designed for international high school students, Doctor Follows offers unparalleled access to hospital facilities, doctors, and their patients.
This first-hand observation experience focuses on following professionals during daily rounds, consultations, treatments, and surgeries. Each stage is carefully monitored to ensure safety and comfort for both patients and students.
Departments include:
- General Surgery
- Dental
- Emergency Room
- Hemodialysis
- Out-patient
- Pediatrics
- Physical Therapy
- OBGYN (Female Students only)
- Thai Traditional Medicine
Groups will always be accompanied by Friends for Asia staff who will help supervise the course and translate where necessary. This program is conducted in English, and complete participation is necessary for all students.
We try hard to place students in departments that align most with their interests. Just let us know what you're most interested in and we'll try our best to keep you in that area.
Program Highlights
20 Hours Clinical Observation
Provides 20 hours of clinical observation in hospitals, ideal for students keen to explore medicine hands-on. All hours are documented and certified by program and hospital directors.
Group Maximum of 16 students
To ensure a well organized and supervised program, we keep the number of interns in our projects to a maximum of 16 students for each session. This ensures high-quality experiences for students and the highest standard of safety for all.
Student to Staff Ratio of 4:1
Students will always be accompanied by Friends for Asia staff who will help supervise the course and translate where necessary.
Conducted in English
Students will only be grouped with a healthcare professional that possesses a high command of the English language. This course allows students to rotate through departments and hospital venues with ease.
Available Doctor Follows Week Sessions
To learn more about project details such as itinerary or accommodations, please select one of the sessions bellow:
Our Doctor Follows program is very popular and sessions fill up quickly. If you're interested in joining a waitlist or being notified about future sessions, please contact us here.
Participation Fees
| Session (1 week duration) | Price per student |
|---|
Project Fees Include:
- Airport pick up and drop off (if applicable)
- Shared Hotel Accommodation, based upon gender
- All transportation during program in safe, professionally driven vans
- All meals
- Orientation Day (including half day city tour or visit to Chatchuak Market)
- 24 hour Onsite Bilingual Coordinator Support
- Use of two of our FFA lab coats.
- Written record of program completion and total number of hours of observation at hospitals, along with signed certificates of observation participation from each hospital director of program placements.
Project Fee Does Not Include:
- Travel to/from Home and Bangkok (airfare, train tickets, etc.)
- International Medical Insurance
Important Information for Prospective Participants
Student Intern Qualifications
- Participation age for this program is 14-18, male, female, non-binary students are all welcome.
- All participating students will need a reference letter (or email) from a current or previous teacher or school representative.
- Students need to speak and understand English fluently (English is the language of communication for the program).
- Students should have an interest in following medicine as a career in the future and be able to deal with various medical scenarios they may encounter.
Program Coordination and Supervision
Friends for Asia has been hosting students and international volunteers and interns in our Bangkok and Chiang Mai programs since 2007. Our bilingual coordinating staff will be on hand to translate for student groups at the hospitals when needed and will accompany the group 24 hours a day.
During the program, the group will visit open air markets and shopping centers. At these times students will be free to walk and shop in small groups without programming staff directly at their side. During these moments students will be required to follow our rules of conduct, outlined in our terms and conditions agreement.
Meals and Dining
We eat at good places, because food in Thailand is plentiful and delicious!
All students can enjoy a two hour break midday during observations. We like to take students to a variety of different restaurants and cafes to allow them to relax, talk about what they observed in the morning, and enjoy the lovely ambiance of the unique restaurants we take them. We want to make sure that all students eat well, sleep well, and are prepared well for the program.
Vegetarian, vegan, and students with other special dietary needs can be accommodated during the program. let us know about any dietary requirements when signing up.
Our farewell dinner is always something special!
Afternoon Activities
Aside from medical and health care related time, our Doctor Follows Groups also engage in other fun and cultural activities.
These activities help provide students with other activities to better get to know their surroundings while also having fun together as a group. Not everything in a medical program has to be about medicine. Sometimes teenagers just need to relax and have fun.
Strict Rules of Student Engagement
We have a strictly enforced set of rules for all attendees, outlined in our terms and conditions agreement. These include regulations against student possession and usage of tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis products, along with rules banning male and female students from visiting each other's rooms.
Breaking our terms and conditions rules will result in immediate administrative separation from the program. These items are reviewed and discussed during orientation. We want all students to have a successful program