Quick Overview
Volunteering to work in a hospital in Cambodia is an excellent way to get involved and help vulnerable people in situations they need it most. Cambodia is one of the poorest nations in Southeast Asia, and poverty can affect an individual’s health hugely. Living in unsanitary conditions will make a person much more likely to fall ill, so medical facilities in Cambodia are essential in helping the country to progress. There are additional dangers to citizens in Southeast Asia, such as insect bites, snakes, heat stroke and various contagious conditions that spread more easily in the heat. Your volunteering project can help to make a difference to those suffering from unavoidable risks.
At the end of the 1960s, during the Vietnam war, Cambodia was driven into a civil war that completely destroyed the social structure and subsequently the medical and education systems. Phnom Penh has the highest standard of healthcare in Cambodia, and even here it is not as developed as in many other countries. The rest of the country has generally underfunded hospitals, employing a number of doctors who may not have all the necessary qualifications to meet international standards. Your volunteer work can help improve the conditions in hospitals and get a system in place to ensure good quality healthcare is provided to those who need it.
The population in Cambodia is over 14 million people, meaning there is a strain on hospitals all across the country. As a volunteer, you’ll work in one of the state hospitals in the city of Phnom Penh to provide basic medical care and stabilization for patients. General health for the people of Cambodia is more of a concern than in other parts of Southeast Asia because there is a lack of effective medical-treatment facilities. Combined with higher risk of tropical diseases spreading, the need for medical professionals will always be high.
Due to this level of importance placed on hospitals and healthcare facilities in Cambodia, our volunteering projects could be the perfect placement to sign up for, to add something valuable to your CV and help make a difference while working in a beautiful country. We urgently need motivated, determined individuals trained in medicine to sign up and help Cambodia develop a solid medical structure.
What’s Involved
Your responsibilities during your medical volunteering trip will vary depending on your previous experience, your medical background and your goals on what you’d like to accomplish during your trip. You’ll generally be working in various departments alongside the existing nurses and doctors at the hospital, where you can observe the general practice and see how day-to-day life in the Cambodian medical environment works. To complete this program, volunteers will have needed to have done at least one year of medical school, nursing school or related training to qualify. If you’re interested in volunteering specifically in a surgery department, you’ll need to have at least three years’ experience.
Skills that will also come in useful will be the ability to be flexible by participating in many different tasks, think creatively in a working environment, use your initiative with a limited range of resources, and as mentioned prior to this, you must hold the relevant previous experience for the role. Projects begin on every first and third Monday of the month and the minimum stay is four weeks.
You’ll be working in one of two hospitals in Phnom Penh, where care is provided for more than 400 HIV-positive children, with the accompanying ward providing care for people with other medical conditions. The aim is to provide the best possible care given the resources available, with a particular focus on children with HIV and TB. Facilities include intensive care units, neonatal facilities and general pediatric outpatient care. One unique feature of the program is its ability to provide counselors and social workers to assist with any essential counselling required.
You’ll be given a full briefing on arrival and can expect support in situations that may otherwise seem daunting. No more will be expected of you than you make clear you can cope with, the important thing is to have an extra pair of hands available to assist the existing medics with their daily duties.
This program is suitable for medical and nursing students, healthcare workers, medical professionals.
All The Details
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Siam Rep, Cambodia
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For this program please email hello@volunteeringjourneys.com for the rates.
- Pre-departure information
- Volunteer placement within one of our partner organizations
- Airport pick up
- Welcome package, which includes a volunteer guide and maps and dinner at a traditional Khmer restaurant
- Food and accommodations (3 meals a day)
- A fixed contact person from the program who regularly check in with you to ensure you are having an amazing experience
- 24 hour emergency contact
- One day orientation on Cambodian history, culture and language plus city tour
- Onsite Coordinator
Whats Not Included in your program fee :
- Flights
- Visa
- Travel insurance
- Daily project transport
- Activities in your down time from the programme
Getting There
- The nearest airport for this program is Phnom Penh International Airport ( PNH )
- Travel Insurance is compulsory on this program. For help with flights and insurance fill in this form
- Vaccinations are important. We recommend you visit your local travel clinic to find out what vaccines you should take.
- We work with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office for travel to Cambodia. Goto www.gov.uk/knowbeforeyougo to find out how best to avoid trouble when abroad. Packed with essential travel advice and tips, the website also offers up-to-date country information.
- We understand it can be difficult to pay for your flights, program fees and other travel costs. Many fundraise for their journey. If you need ideas and a platform for fundraising ideas Click Here
- For support on any of the above email us hello@volunteeringjourneys.com
What Happens When I Arrive?

Living Arrangements for Volunteer in Cambodia:
All volunteers working in Phnom Penh will stay at our guesthouse located right in the center of the city for your convenience and so you can make the most of the area during your time in Cambodia! This means you’ll be living within minutes of many of the major tourist attractions such as including the Olympic Stadium and the Orussey Market. We encourage our volunteers to enjoy the area as well as complete their working placements.
The guesthouses feature large roof decks for relaxing after a busy day working at the hospital, restaurants that service local cuisine and western meal options, Wi-Fi so you can keep in touch with friends and family at home, access to computers, bikes for rental and a laundry service to make use of.
Your meals will be included, so you’ll be given breakfast, lunch and dinner from the guesthouses. Kitchens are open from 6:00am to 9:00pm, and you can expect food with ingredients such as rice, vegetables, noodles, soup, meat and fish. For breakfast you can typically expect coffee, tea, bread, eggs and juice to start the day. If you’re working a further distance from the guesthouses, a packed lunch can be provided so you need not experience any further costs.

Health and Safety :
When you join our programs you can be assured we have carried out Risk Assessments to identify potential safety and health risks on projects and in the community. We share this information with you in our pre departure documents and on arrival. Our local staff are well trained and we provide 24/7 emergency numbers to all participants. Please read our Health and Safety pages for more details.
We protect the safety of children and vulnerable adults on our programs by police verification and a reference checks on all participants. Please read our Child Protection Policy for more details.