Thailand

We are based in Chiang Mai in the lush northern hill country. It's the ideal base to explore all of the things Thailand is synonymous with - from jungle treks on elephant back to breathtaking islands and white sand beaches.

Domestic flights are cheap and easy to pick up even on the day you travel, so after placement on Friday you can head for Phuket, jump on the boat to Kho Phi Phi and settle down to a lobster curry in front of your beachfront bungalow! You'll have the weekend to swim, dive, shop, eat, drink and soak up the sunshine and be back in Chiang Mai for a barbecue at the house on Sunday night.

But there's good reason why we didn't actually base our programme by the sea. Precisely because it's so very appealing, parts of Thailand have been rather overrun with tourism. They're great for weekend entertainment or lying on a beach, but aren't exactly authentically Thai! Chiang Mai strikes a perfect balance - there's tourism here and plenty to do, but it's set back from the mainstream tourist trail and allows you to get a bit of a sense of the local people and culture too.

Our Thailand program is hugely popular with pre-health students as a fantastic place to gain some really good hospital healthcare experience while benefitting from everything this amazing country has to offer at weekends and during your free time.