I travelled to Peru on my elective in March 2004 with a fellow medical student. We actually organised the trip through a website called Medics Away, a company made by doctors that plans medical electives for doctors. The whole trip was therefore tailor made for us medical students and our requirements.

It was an 8 week trip and we paid Medics Away £1700. This included the hospital attachment, accommodation, pick-up and hotel in Lima en-route to Cusco, Inca Trail, membership of the South American Explorers Club and 30 hours of Spanish classes. However this did not include flights and altogether my total expenses for 8 weeks was £3000 (including flights, food, presents and silly spending!).

The elective was based in Cusco, which is located in Huatanay River Valley, in the southeast Andes of Peru. It is 11,000 feet above sea level and is considered one of the highest cities in the world! It has a population of 300,000 and is the seventh biggest city in Peru.

We worked in Hospital EsSalud, mainly based on an infectious disease ward. There was lots on interesting cases to see first hand, including TB, AIDS and Leishminiasis. History taking was often awkward but the spanish lessons were centred around medical terminology. However, there were lots of interesting signs and certainly it was a really worthwhile clinical attachment. The medical staff and patients were open and friendly, and made us feel most welcone.

Outside of the hospital, every weekend was an adventure! We managed the inca trail, white water rafting in the sacred valley (rafting the Urubamba river was amazing), horse riding to the salt mines, mountain biking, camping (next to a natural hot spring) and sand boarding in Ica sand dunes. There is definitely plenty of all action adverture to be found in Peru and the scenary was just jaw dropping.

It is certainly a trip I won't forget and I would definitely recommend Peru to everyone! Going through Medics Away was a definite bonus as all the stress and hassle was sorted out before hand. They may seem expensive but they are worth every penny! Enjoy the photos!