Paul is a medical student and has a student-selected component (SSC) coming up in a few months. He isn’t attracted to any of the study options listed on his medical school’s website. He’s interested in vulnerable patient groups, so he approaches us about doing his SSC with us in the Philippines. His medical school agrees and so he starts to plan…

• New Year: he applies online and pays £25.

• January: we process his application and accept him subject to references.

• February: his references come back fine, we give him an acceptance email for his university’s records and enroll him into our virtual orientation.

• March: in addition to doing a three-week SSC, he has a spare fourth week before his next medical school block starts. So he decides to take a holiday in the middle of his SSC. He books and pays for his flights and arranges insurance.

• April: he reads our virtual orientation. Hhe gets the necessary vaccinations and a supply of PEP from his university’s occupational health department.

• May: he decides to learn to SCUBA dive during his holiday week.

  • He arranges internal flights to and accommodation on an island we recommend for learning to dive. He pays the dive shop and starts doing his pre-diving course e-learning.

It’s finally happening! Paul jets off on his SSC…

• Week 1: Paul arrives in the Philippines:

  • He travels to our base and settles in.

  • On Monday morning he has in-person orientation and chooses a QIP.

  • He pays 90% of his anticipated full board accommodation cost (a maximum of 3 weeks x 7 days x P1500/night) with the balance to be paid by the end of his SSC. This allows flexibility for his weekend plans, as short notice plans are fun to make and we do not charge students for nights when they are away for the weekend.

  • He starts getting embedded into our team.

  • He spends the weekend hiking in the mountains around Subic Bay.

• Week 2: Paul is now embedded into our team:

  • He finds a particular patient to follow up and focus on in his CbD.

  • He teaches our team about the management of alcohol withdrawal.

  • On the weekend he leaves for his SCUBA diving holiday week.

• Week 3: Paul is on holiday:

  • He rests and learns to SCUBA dive.

  • On the weekend he travels back to our base

• Week 4: Paul enjoys the last week of his SSC:

  • He finishes his QIP.

  • He moves around some activities so as to be able to go SCUBA diving on two mornings.

  • He has his CbD with his supervisor who signs off his SSC paperwork.

  • He pays the balance of his accommodation fee.

  • He buys donuts for the team during his farewell party.

Paul’s medical school has an online placements folder, in which returning students give future students recommendations (and warnings) for the planning of their own placements.

In the section about funding the placement, Paul considered that some costs vary from person to person depending upon their health, ability to fund recreational activities, and the time of the year. So alongside the amounts, he wrote some helpful notes…

• Compulsory = £1,503

  • Application fee = £25

  • Flights = £682
    I booked three months in advance and flew with Qatar Airways (with a very short transit stop in Doha) from Heathrow to Clark (Angeles) Airport, which is the nearest to Olongapo. It would likely be cheaper to:
    - fly into Manila Airport rather than Clark
    - fly with airlines other than Qatar & Emirates, which transit through the Middle East and fly to Clark/Angeles
    - go at other times of the year
    - have a longer transit stop
    - search for many flight options on Cheapflights, Kiwi and Skyscanner

  • Health & travel insurance = £48
    This varies a lot depending upon your overall health, anticipated activities and level of benefits. Your insurance must include hospitalisation costs and repatriation to your home country. And if you are going to do any high risk activities such as SCUBA diving, you need to ensure that the policy will cover evacuation and hyperbaric chamber treatment in the event of a case of decompression sickness.

  • Onsite food & accommodation = ~£453 (P1,500/night)
    Upon arrival, you pay 90% of this anticipated cost. Then you pay the balance before you leave. This allows for you to make short-notice decisions during your stay, about going away for long weekends.

  • Supervision fee = £150 (£50/week)
    This is not charged for holiday weeks.
    Although this is minor part of your overall costs, Integritas does run its own bursary scheme for two students each year, discounting and - for a suitable low-and-middle-income applicant - waiving this fee. (See higher up this page for further details.)

  • Safeguarding check = £0
    Most universities cover the charge of a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check in the UK or whatever is the equivalent in your country of study.

  • Travel between airport and our base in Olongapo = ~£5 (bus + trike)
    This will vary a bit, depending upon which airport you fly into.

  • Vaccinations & any other preventative health measures = ~£140

• Optional = £744

  • Offsite accommodation & food = ~£120
    If you don’t go away from Olongapo on your holiday days, you’ll need to pay Integritas for extra days of full-board accommodation.

  • Recreational activities = ~£554
    Day at hotel roof top pool = P400
    Entry fees to local beach = P90 (P30/day)
    Mountain-climbing pass = P500
    SCUBA diving course = P28,000
    SCUBA fun diving = P11,400 (P3,800 (2 boat dives) x 3 days)

  • Recreational travel = ~£70
    Buses between Olongapo & Clark = ~£8 (P274/one-way x 1 return trip)
    Flights between Clark and Palawan = £46
    Several jeepney (local bus) journeys = ~P200 (as little as P20)
    Several trike (bike taxi) journeys = ~P1,000 (common prices are P30-P300)

  • Visas = £0
    You need to pay this if you stay longer than a month, and it costs ~£42