Medical Volunteers
Volunteer Doctor Housing
Volunteer Doctor Housing
Basketball Court
The staff at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital are grateful for opportunities to work alongside our medical volunteers and help train both International and Papua New Guinea residents and students each year. We have specific housing for our medical volunteers and trainees and our Volunteer Coordinator, Dr. Katherine Radcliffe, will be glad to work with you if you would like to consider serving or doing a rotation at Kudjip. We are especially limited in the number of medical students that we are able to accept each year, so please understand if we are not able to accommodate you.
We are also looking for Christian physicians who are interested in serving with us full time at Kudjip. Please contact us if you are interested.
Volunteer Physicians Interested in Working at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital please contact Dr. Katherine Radcliffe at kudjipvolunteers@gmail.com for information.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the climate like, and what kind of clothes should I bring?
The climate here is incredibly pleasant. It is around the lower 80¹s in the day, and 60’s at night. Bring a sweater or sweatshirt, as well as rain gear as it often rains in the afternoons. Scrubs can be worn in the hospital, if you want. Guys-shorts are acceptable. Women-still plan to bring/wear long skirts/dresses, but also bring loose fitting pants for hiking, long shorts (knee length) for playing sports, and pants (if you want) for wearing inside your house. If you are going to go swimming ladies, bring long shorts and a shirt to wear overtop of your swimsuit. You can wear sandals, tennis shoes, or whatever is most comfortable for you.
2. What are the living accommodations like?
The volunteer doctor’s flats (apartments) are small, but more than adequate. The flats each have a refrigerator, stove, oven, toaster, and a microwave. The laundry room, where you will do your own laundry, is connected to the flats, and your clothesline is in the front yard. Two studio flats and one two-bedroom flat are available.
3. Is Malaria an issue?
Not really. There are very few mosquitoes here, but if you get bit often, bring repellent. Prophylaxis is not recommended if you are staying at Kudjip, but is if you are planning to go to the coast, missionaries do not take it unless going to the coast.
4. What are the "On-Calls" like?
Depending on how many doctors are here at the time, you will take 1-2 calls a week. The hospital is about a 5 minute walk from the doctor’s flats, and the average is about 4-5 phone calls per call night – of course, sometimes more, and sometimes none at all.
5. Will I have a phone, email, or internet access?
Internet has gotten better, plan to bring your own device and we will help you figure out our internet options here. If you have a smartphone that is unlocked, you can get a SIM card with our local phone carrier to be able to use while you are here.
6. Are there any recreational activities?
We have a basketball/tennis court, and volleyball net. There are places to run on station. If you are a swimmer, you can swim in the end of the canal with one of the other missionaries, but the water temperature is around 67F, so a wetsuit can be helpful. A weight room is available. Hikes can happen with the help of missionaries or locals to guide you.
7. What opportunities for worship are there?
There are many. There is a church on the station which is attended by many of the missionaries and hospital staff. The missionaries visit “bush” churches fairly often and always welcome our volunteers to go with them. There is an English language service every other month in the chapel, weekly hospital devotions and a missionary prayer meeting where volunteers are welcome.
8. Do I need to bring my own linens and kitchenware?
There are plenty of sheets and towels provided in your flat, so you do not need to bring your own. You will also have dishes, utensils, and pots and pans provided.
9. How much money should I bring?
Contact Dr. Katherine Radcliffe at kudjipvolunteers@gmail.com for current information.
10. Hospital Station/Compound Description:
The station is not large, taking only 10 minutes to walk from one end to the other. Besides the hospital buildings, there is Nazarene College of Nursing, offices for the Nazarene mission, about 20 missionary homes, nursing student dorms, and many houses belonging to PNG national staff. There are many children on the station, both MK’s and PNG children. There are around 20 full-time missionaries units here, as well as their children. Women may not walk on the station after dark without male escort (which the missionary families happily provide) or walk off of the station alone at any time. We have security guards, but they cannot be everywhere at once.
11. If I am bringing my "non-medical" spouse, what is there for them to do?
They can be as busy as they choose to be. There is plenty of work to be done, if they will seek it out. Some possible examples are organizing and cleaning the store room, teaching the nationals working in the hospital how to use computers, helping to organize the nursing college library, filing, helping in the MK school, helping in the community school, and many more. There are also lots of PNG children on the station who would love to play with them.
12. Are there any other guidelines I need to know?
No smoking. No alcohol. Modest, culturally appropriate dress (women modest attire, non-form fitting). Men and women who are not husband and wife should be careful to avoid any appearance of impropriety, understanding the Papua New Guineans have a stricter understanding of this than most westerners.
13. What is the primary focus of Kudjip Nazarene Hospital?
The spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is first and foremost a Christian ministry. We treat the sick out of compassion, because of Christ’s example of healing, and to provide an opportunity to bring men, women and children to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Hundreds of people come to Christ through the ministry of Nazarene Hospital each year.
14. Do I have to be a Christian or endorse the doctrines of the Church of the Nazarene to volunteer there?
We prefer that our volunteers become actively involved in ministry, that they are willing to pray with patients, or to explain salvation through faith in Jesus when the opportunity arises. Our volunteers have come from a wide variety of denominational and doctrinal backgrounds. Occasionally a doctor who is not a Christian, but who has agreed to abide by our standards of behavior, and has agreed not to oppose our ministry has come as a volunteer. Occasionally they have placed their faith in Jesus for their own salvation while here with us.
The Kudjip Experience:
We have a 32 bed adult medicine ward, a 30 bed surgical ward, a 32 bed pediatric ward, a 12 bed tuberculosis ward, and a 28 bed maternity ward. We have a labor suite with 5 delivery beds. We have a nursery with the capacity to be flexible and hold 10 babies. We have two operating theaters and a minor procedure room. Our Outpatient Department includes 9 exam rooms and a 7 bed emergency room. We have both fixed and portable x-ray machines and can do most basic views. We have two ultrasound machines, which are used by all of our physicians. Our laboratory facilities include hematology and chemistry, as well as microscopy and blood banking. Unfortunately, we have no microbiology lab, but we are able to do serological tests for syphilis, Hepatitis B, and HIV.
Our medical staff presently includes family physicians, a pediatrician, ER doctor and general surgeons. All are residency-trained and board-certified. In addition, we frequently have visiting physicians in a variety of specialties.
Volunteers who come here usually have a wide variety of experiences. They generally are assigned a portion of one of our inpatient wards. They see those patients on morning rounds and then spend the remainder of their day in the Outpatient Department. Volunteers in the primary care specialties usually see outpatients along with our staff doctors. Those in more limited specialties usually see referral cases. Since practicing here can be very different than practicing in more developed countries, we try to make sure that our staff doctors are available to answer questions as needed. Surgeons usually spend 2 or 3 days a week in the OR. Many surgical specialists enjoy the chance to scrub with our general surgeon on cases outside their usual experience.
Primary care doctors commonly do more procedures than they would in their home country. They often do several thoracentesis and paracentesis, repair complex lacerations, do many I&D’s, and lumbar punctures. They may do ultrasounds, D&C’s, manual extraction of retained placentas, and closed reductions of various fractures. Depending on their experience they may perform cesarean sections.
Most of our volunteers take call. The primary care doctors take general call in rotation with our staff doctors. If their skills do not include obstetrics, a staff doctor is assigned back-up duties for OB. Specialist’s usually make themselves available after hours for emergencies in their specialties.
Volunteers also have opportunities to teach. Our staff doctors are always striving to broaden their skills, and usually take advantage of the knowledge of any volunteers that come. In addition, we often have students or residents here, and volunteers that are here at the same time often get involved in teaching.
Outside the hospital, volunteers have opportunities to gain an understanding of the people of the Whagi Valley. They often visit nearby villages, visit with local people and attend cultural events. Most worship in “bush” churches on some of the Sundays that they are here. There are many interesting hikes in the vicinity of Kudjip Nazarene Hospital (KNH) that afford opportunities to see both people and beautiful scenery. Visitors usually go into the nearby town of Mount Hagen once or twice during their stay.
In addition, volunteers usually get to know the staff of KNH well. They are usually invited into the homes of the medical and non-medical missionaries, and are included in activities on the station. Those with a personal interest in medical missions have opportunities to ask questions of missionaries at various stages of their careers, and to discuss their own plans and aspirations with experienced missionaries. They also are able to observe how missionaries and their families live, and to gain an understanding of the challenges and the rewards of missionary life.