Gap Medics Launching medical careers

Ethical policy

We believe we have a strong social obligation to support the communities in which we work around the world. We are also passionately committed to minimizing the negative environmental impact our operations have.

These commitments to our social and environmental responsibility influence every decision we take. Here are some examples that illustrate our policies in action:

Supporting our partner hospitals

One of the things that makes Gap Medics placements so successful is the motivation of our mentors – the doctors and nurses you shadow during your placement. Their enthusiasm is the result of the strong personal relationships we form within our partner hospitals, and the fact that we pay all of our mentors directly for the work that they do with students.

Although the majority of what you pay us is used to cover things like your accommodation, food, our administration and the development of the programmes, around 10% of the price goes directly to the hospital in which you work. This is typically split with half going to your personal mentors and the other half going towards general funding of the hospital.

Some of our students further support the hospitals with fund-raising before or after their placement. Pre-nursing student Alice Haydock from Hertforshire, for example, recently provided the first ever incubator for the neonatal unit at Iringa Regional Hospital in Tanzania with the help of her school.

Eco-friendly houses

We furnish all our Gap Medics houses from scratch, employing local carpenters and artisans and using sustainably-sourced materials that are produced as close to the site as possible. The development of each house channels tens of thousands of pounds into the local economy through small, eco-friendly industries.

Seasonal foods

Our caterers always try to use fresh ingredients that are produced locally and are in season. This doesn’t only reduce our environmental footprint – it tastes better too!

With very limited waste disposal infrastructure in the developing world, most of what people throw out ends up being simply dumped on empty land or burnt. One way we reduce our contribution to this problem is by turning all our biodegradable waste into compost at our houses, and we are always exploring new ways to further reduce our environmentally damaging waste.

Employment

We employ local people to run our programmes wherever possible, thus ensuring expert knowledge of the area and culture. By providing comprehensive training and demanding the highest standards of professionalism, we then equip our teams with valuable skills and experience that benefit them and their communities both during and after their time with Gap Medics.