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Medical Volunteer Program in Kenya
A hospital placement in Nairobi for qualified doctors, nurses and midwives. Work alongside Kenyan clinicians in district hospitals and clinics, with accommodation, meals and 24/7 in-country support included.
This program places qualified doctors, nurses, midwives and clinical officers in hospitals and clinics in and around Nairobi, mostly Level 3 and Level 4 district hospitals, some serving informal settlements. Your department is assigned by the hospital according to need and your registration, and you work alongside Kenyan clinicians on ward rounds, clinics and theater lists, taking histories and observations and assisting within your scope of practice under supervision. It is built for fully registered professionals, not students or pre-med applicants.
Placements run 1–12 weeks, with starts every week (sundays) and the next intake on 20 Sep 2026. You stay in a shared apartment in Lower Kabete, with breakfast and dinner provided on weekdays and three meals at weekends, plus airport pickup and orientation. Prices start at $748, deposit included. The main reason professionals choose this program is direct exposure to case presentations and clinical decision-making in a resource-limited setting, working alongside local staff managing a caseload very different from home.
- Hospital and clinic placements in and around Nairobi, for qualified doctors, nurses and midwives
- Work alongside Kenyan clinicians in Level 3 and Level 4 district hospitals
- Exposure to presentations rarely seen in high-resource systems
- Placements from 1 to 12 weeks, starting most weeks of the year
- Accommodation, breakfast and dinner, airport pickup and orientation included
- 24/7 support from our in-country team in Nairobi
- Weekends free for safari, Nairobi National Park, Karura Forest and the Maasai Market
Who this program is for
This program is open to qualified, registered doctors and nurses — and to registered midwives, clinical officers and other licensed healthcare professionals. You will need to be fully qualified and currently registered with your national regulator (the GMC or NMC in the UK, or the equivalent body in your country).
It is not a student elective. If you are a medical, nursing or pre-med student looking for an elective placement, our sister brand Med Trips runs programs designed specifically for students, with the supervision and sign-off that university placements require.
About the program
The Medical Volunteer Program in Kenya places qualified clinicians in hospitals and clinics in and around suburban Nairobi. You will work alongside Kenyan doctors, clinical officers and nurses who manage a caseload very different from the one you are used to — often with far fewer resources, and with presentations you may rarely see at home, including advanced infectious disease, late-presenting pathology and trauma.
Most placements are in smaller hospitals and Level 3 and Level 4 district hospitals, some in suburban Nairobi and some serving informal settlements. The work is genuinely useful to the teams you join, and for most volunteers it is also a serious professional experience: seeing how clinical decisions are made when imaging, laboratory turnaround and drug availability cannot be assumed.
How your department is allocated
This is the main thing to understand before you apply: you cannot choose your department in advance. Placements are allocated by the hospital, based on where they need clinical support during the weeks you are there, and on what your registration and experience allow you to do. The clinical leads make that decision on arrival, and rotations between departments are at their discretion.
We will always pass on your areas of interest, and in practice most participants do spend time in more than one department over a longer placement. But we will not promise you a specific ward, speciality or theater list before you travel, and you should not book this program expecting one.
Where you will be placed
Your placement is assigned according to availability and logistics at the time you travel. Departments that commonly host volunteers include outpatients, accident & emergency, maternity, obstetrics & gynaecology, general wards, internal medicine, paediatrics, the burns unit, surgery and theater, the critical care unit, counselling, pharmacy and the laboratory.
Sample placement — Tigoni District Hospital. Tigoni is a Level 4 district hospital in Kiambu West, in the Limuru constituency, with more than 200 beds and cots across inpatient and outpatient departments. Services include antenatal care, caesarean section, immunisation, tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment, family planning, radiology and antiretroviral therapy. Patient numbers vary considerably day to day. This is one example only — you may be placed at another hospital in or around Nairobi.
Transport to and from your placement is not included in the program fee. Your local coordinator will suggest the most practical options; most volunteers use Uber or Bolt and share the cost, and we suggest budgeting around $5–$7 per day.
Your role on placement
What you do depends on your qualification, your experience and the judgement of the supervising clinician. As a registered professional you will usually be given more responsibility than a student would be, but the hospital still decides what is appropriate, and patient consent applies as it would anywhere. In practice volunteers support ward rounds, clinics and theater lists, take histories and observations, assist with procedures within their scope of practice, and share knowledge with local colleagues.
You should arrive expecting to work within the local system rather than to change it, and to be supernumerary rather than to hold independent clinical responsibility. Volunteers who get the most from the placement are the ones who are useful, adaptable and willing to learn from staff who do a great deal with very little.
Your role on this program
- Support ward rounds, clinics and theater lists alongside local clinicians
- Take patient histories and clinical observations under supervision
- Assist with procedures within your registered scope of practice, under the supervising clinician
- Share clinical knowledge and skills with hospital staff
- Observe case management and presentations not commonly seen in higher-resource systems
- Support outpatient, maternity, general ward, laboratory or other departments as allocated
- Work within the hospital's existing systems and resources rather than introduce new protocols
Exact duties vary with the placement's needs, the season and your experience.
Role boundaries
You work as a supernumerary volunteer under the direct supervision of local clinicians at all times, and you do not hold independent clinical responsibility, diagnose, prescribe, administer medication or injections, suture or perform procedures on your own initiative. What you are permitted to do hands-on is decided by the supervising clinician, within your registration and the hospital's needs, and duties vary by placement and department.
A typical day and week
A typical week on the program in Nairobi looks like this:
- Sunday — arrival in Nairobi and transfer to your accommodation
- Monday — orientation with the local coordinator (safety, culture, language, transport, places to eat and things to do), then an introduction to your placement and the hospital team
- Tuesday to Friday — placement
- Weekends — free
Daily timings
- Breakfast from 07:30 (at the accommodation)
- Leave for the placement around 08:00
- At the placement 09:00 to 16:00
- Lunch 13:00 to 14:00 (not included — most volunteers take a packed lunch or eat near the hospital)
- Dinner from 19:30 (at the accommodation)
The same pattern continues from the second week onwards. Timings vary depending on your final placement and the department you are allocated to.
Timings are the placement's usual pattern; the local team confirms your hours at orientation, and they can change with school terms, clinic rotas, weather and the project's needs.
Who can join and what you need
- Minimum age 18
- Fully qualified and currently registered healthcare professional (doctor, nurse, midwife or clinical officer)
- Proof of current professional registration with your national regulator
- CV and copy of passport
- Clean criminal background check issued within 12 months of the start date
- Own scrubs or lab coat
- Travel and medical insurance, your own policy or the one arranged through the program
- Not open to students or pre-med applicants
The placement, its limits and your part in it
Local clinicians supervise all clinical activity, decide what a volunteer can do hands-on within their scope of practice, and patient consent applies as it would anywhere. Your contribution is additional clinical support to teams managing a heavy caseload with limited resources, not a substitute for staff or a chance to change how the hospital works.
Start dates
Weekly start dates, year-round — pick any week across the next two years.
Program fees by duration
Prices include your $249 booking deposit — which is deducted from your total program fee. Your deposit stays valid for one year, during which you may enroll in multiple programs. A 5% international banking fee applies to credit-card payments in USD or AUD.
| Duration | Total price | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 week | $748 | |
| 2 weeks | $948 | |
| 3 weeks | $1,148 | |
| 4 weeks | $1,348 | |
| 5 weeks | $1,548 | |
| 6 weeks | $1,748 | |
| 7 weeks | $1,948 | |
| 8 weeks | $2,148 | |
| Each additional week | +$200 / week |
Indicative conversion — your booking is charged in the currency you choose at checkout.
✓ What you're paying for
- 24-hour assistance and support from our in-country staff
- Comprehensive pre-departure information and support from the Volunteering Solutions team
- Airport pickup from Nairobi airport
- Orientation on arrival
- Two meals a day on weekdays, three at weekends
- Accommodation for the duration of your placement
- Assistance booking weekend safaris and other trips
- Medical insurance
- Certificate of participation (on request)
Not included
- Airfare
- Lunch on weekdays
- Visa fee
- Return airport drop (can be arranged at extra cost)
- Local transport to and from your placement (budget around $5–$7 per day)
- Vaccinations
- Weekend safaris and excursions
Accommodation & meals
Airport transfer
You will be met at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi by the local coordinator or a representative. If you are arriving overland or are already in Kenya, we will arrange a meeting point in Nairobi beforehand. Nairobi is a major East African hub with good international connections.
Accommodation
Volunteers stay in the Lower Kabete area of Nairobi, about 20–25 minutes from Westlands and Parklands (good restaurants and shopping) and around 30 minutes by car from the city center.
Accommodation is in a gated apartment complex, where we use four or five apartments across different floors. Rooms are shared, usually four people to a room in bunk beds. Private rooms are available in the same complex on request at additional cost — something a number of our qualified volunteers prefer.
Facilities include hot showers, a microwave, induction hob, refrigerator and WiFi. There is no air conditioning, which Nairobi's climate does not really require. Bottled water is bought locally from a market within walking distance. For laundry, most volunteers hand wash or use a laundromat a short walk from the apartments.
Orientation
Your local coordinator runs an orientation in Nairobi covering safety, the area, your placement, transport and weekend travel. On the same day they will show you the nearest market, help you change money and get a local SIM card.
Meals
Two meals a day are provided on weekdays (breakfast and dinner) and three at weekends. Breakfast supplies — bread, eggs, butter, fruit, tea and coffee — are provided for you to prepare yourself.
Lunch is not included. Most volunteers take a packed sandwich or fruit to the placement, or eat at or near the hospital. Dinner is cooked at the house and typically includes lentils, chapatis, mandazi, spaghetti, pilau, chips, githeri and fruit. Tell the coordinators about any allergies or dietary requirements and they will accommodate them.
Getting around
Most volunteers use Uber or Bolt to reach their placement and to get around Nairobi.
Your free time
Most volunteers go on safari at the weekend — usually a two-day or extended three-day trip. In the city there is plenty to see: the Maasai Market, Bomas of Kenya, the Giraffe Centre, the elephant sanctuary and Karura Forest. Further afield you can cycle in Hell's Gate National Park at Naivasha (1.5 hours), climb Mount Longonot (1.5 hours), visit Thomson's Falls (3 hours) or head to the coast at Mombasa. We can also arrange group safaris to the Maasai Mara, Amboseli, Lake Nakuru and Nairobi National Park. Weekend trips are at additional cost.
Life on the program
Getting there and who looks after you in Kenya
Airport pickup
You are met at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi by the local coordinator or a representative, then transferred to your accommodation.
First night
You settle into the shared apartment in Lower Kabete ahead of orientation the next day.
Orientation
On Monday the local coordinator runs an orientation covering safety, culture, transport and weekend trips, and helps you change money and get a local SIM card.
First placement day
You are introduced to your allocated hospital and team, with placement days running Tuesday to Friday.
Ongoing support
The in-country coordinator in Nairobi provides round-the-clock assistance and a 24-hour emergency contact throughout your placement.
From volunteers in Kenya
Frequently asked questions
What will I actually do day to day?
You support ward rounds, clinics or theater lists alongside Kenyan clinicians, take histories and observations, and assist with procedures within your registered scope of practice under supervision.
Do I need to be a qualified doctor or nurse?
Yes, this program is for fully qualified, currently registered healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, midwives and clinical officers; you will need to show proof of registration with your national regulator.
Can I choose which department I work in?
No, the hospital allocates your department based on where support is needed while you are there and what your registration and experience allow, though we do pass on your areas of interest.
Will I have independent clinical responsibility?
No, you work as a supernumerary volunteer under the supervision of local clinicians at all times, and what you can do hands-on is decided by your supervisor within your scope of practice.
What are the hours and days on placement?
Placement days run Tuesday to Friday, 9am to 4pm, with Monday used for orientation and an introduction to your hospital team; weekends are free.
How long can I stay and when can I start?
Placements run 1–12 weeks, with starts every week (sundays) and the next intake on 20 Sep 2026; longer placements generally give you more variety across departments.
What does the price include and what is the deposit?
Prices start at $748, deposit included; the $249 deposit counts toward your total, is valid for a year and is refunded if no place can be offered.
Where do I stay and what meals are provided?
You stay in a shared apartment in Lower Kabete, with breakfast supplies and a cooked dinner on weekdays and three meals at weekends; lunk on weekdays is not included.
Will someone meet me at the airport?
Yes, you are met at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport by the local coordinator or a representative and transferred to your accommodation.
What support is there if something goes wrong?
The in-country coordinator in Nairobi provides round-the-clock assistance and a 24-hour emergency contact for the duration of your placement.
Do I need a background check or vaccinations?
A clean criminal background check issued within 12 months of your start date is required, and vaccination guidance is sent before departure since it is not covered by the program fee.
Is this program suitable for students or pre-med applicants?
No, it is designed for fully qualified, registered professionals; students and pre-med applicants should look at programs designed specifically for electives.
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