Planning your elective--the Caribbean

Mark Wilson gives handy hints on organising an elective in the Caribbean

An elective in the Caribbean will, not surprisingly, raise suspicions of a plan for a big holiday. A fascinating variety of medicine can, however, be found even within one island: because of its wide variation in wealth for example, Jamaica has both excellent private and severely underfunded public health care. Outside hospital work there is plenty to do on all the islands--diving, sailing, eating, drinking, dancing.

The Caribbean as a whole has a subtropical climate with very mild winters. It's hottest between June and September (30°C), but this is also when rainfall tends to peak.

This article will go through the islands from north to south, so look at the map.

The University of the West Indies, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The Registry, Kingston, Jamaica, WI (Tel: +1 876 927 1297, Fax: +1 876 927 2556) has affiliated hospitals on Antigua, Dominica, St Vincent, St Lucia, Grenada, Martinique, Jamaica, Guadeloupe, St Joseph, St Martin, and Barbados. You can apply for an elective by writing directly to the hospitals.