We welcome your interest in a medical student elective rotation at AIC Kijabe Hospital.  In the more than thirty years that medical students have assisted in the medical and spiritual care of patients here, lives have been changed with respect to professional and spiritual growth.  A medical student elective at AIC Kijabe Hospital may leave you different, forever …

Kijabe is a 210-bed hospital owned and operated by the Africa Inland Church, an evangelical Protestant denomination based in Kenya.  The hospital is located about an hour drive northwest of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city.  In addition to primary care service to the local population, the hospital serves as both a national and international referral hospital for many medical and surgical services.  The hospital is relatively modern compared to most clinics and dispensaries in Kenya, and has a very good reputation among the Kenyan people.  We try to make the effort to see that visiting medical students have a good experience.  Some strengths of the elective experience are:

· Experienced staff – both expatriate missionary and Kenyan consultants will work with you to see that your personal, academic and spiritual objectives are met as far as possible.
· Increased autonomy - Students gain an enormous amount of clinical experience.  In one night on call it is possible to see miliary TB, TB meningitis, cryptococcal meningitis, PCP, paediatric diarrhoea and severe dehydration, neonatal sepsis, pneumonia, severe obstetrical complications, burns, and trauma of all kinds.
· Language ease - English is the official medical language of Kenya.  All hospital employees and many patients speak English to some degree.  Staff are usually happy to translate as you work with patients in their mother tongue.  Kiswahili language learning opportunities make the experience even more enjoyable.
· The Kenyan people are very friendly and, in general, have an incredibly positive attitude, even in the face of severe illness and poverty. 

Students come to Kijabe from all over the world, and are expected to stay for at least six  weeks, doing this rotation during their final year or two of medical school.  The objectives of this senior medical elective rotation can be found here. Africa Inland Church has a strong relationship with Africa Inland Mission (AIM), so students are asked to apply through the AIM Sending Council for their home country (see below). Each Council has someone designated to guide you through the application process – usually the Volunteer Coordinator.

It is advisable to inquire about a rotation early, even more than a year in advance, as the hospital limits the number of students they can accommodate at any one time.  The months of September – October are usually reserved for Kenyan medical student electives and so slots for non-Kenyan students may not be available then. Appropriate student numbers allow the consultant (attending) physicians to see that the students are appropriately supervised and are able to meet their educational objectives. 

Besides the senior medical elective, a junior medical elective has been set up for the purpose of exposing junior medical and nursing students to a rural dispensary in Kenya. More information on this junior elective can be found here.

Please note that because of the strong evangelical ethos of the hospital and its testimony to the patients, we require students to come from a Christian protestant tradition and have a living relationship with Jesus Christ.

Information about applications is available from: 

Main listing: http://www.aim-us.org/about_AIM/offices/offices.asp#
Australia and New Zealand:  aimaus@ozemail.com.au     
Canada:  aim-can@aimint.org   URL: http://www.aimcanada.org
South Africa:  aimsa@aimint.net                      
United Kingdom:  uk@aim-eur.org   URL: http://www.aim-eur.org
United States:  : go@aimint.net   URL : http://www.aim-us.org                        
Others: bristol_aim-int@aimint.org