Overseas Experience Placements Available to GP Trainees
Global Health Fellowships (GHF) enable successful ST1 applicants to work overseas in a resource poor rural South African or Ugandan community for twelve months between ST2 and ST3 as part of a four year Global Health and GP training programme. Deployment overseas is taken a Time out of Programme Experience (OOPE). A UK equivalent salary is paid by the South African Government but the salary paid by the Ugandan Government will be at a local rate.
The scheme is run through Africa Health Placements (AHP) and is available in most HEE regional offices and Wales. Successful ST1 applicants will locally be offered the opportunity to apply for a GHF after securing a GP placement in the location of applicants choice. Some GHF posts, depending on location, may be competitive. Applicants may wish to visit the Global Health web pages on a number of HEE regional offices to review their options.
Under the scheme, the GP training programme duration will be extended by 12 months, unless trainees are also attending the Diploma in Tropical Medicine (TM&H) course, when it will be extended by 15 months.
Want to know what it would be like to work in rural South Africa? Watch the video below.
Essential Information
Please read the Health Education England guidance for trainees planning to volunteer or work overseas.
Additional Information for Fellowships
Global Health Fellows (Trainees) will be expected to keep a reflective diary using their e-portfolio and to complete a Quality Improvement Project, if timely and appropriate, during their OOPE placement with AHP in South Africa or Uganda. There will be no formal assessment of competencies, and although the e-portfolio does not need to be completed, trainees will require an ARCP at the end of the OOPE. For this the trainee should upload an OOP Supervisor report to their Learning Log under course/certificate. The trainee will be required to use the HEE Overseas Appraisal Toolkit and submit a completed Form R. All Global Health Fellows will be offered an individual debrief on return to the UK.
Global Health Fellows will be assigned a mentor and expected to attend GH educational events during ST1, ST2 and ST3.
Trainees with Primary Medical Degrees from outside the UK may not be eligible for registration with the HPCSA (South African GMC).
Trainees who will hold a Tier 2 Visa at the time of departure should seek advice from their overseas sponsor or appropriate governmental department to ensure they fully understand any restrictions that may occur from being outside of the United Kingdom for 12 months.