Asking for oppinions on GapMedics

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Original post by HumanConditioner

As long as you are white

Dreadful company.Not all as it seems on glossy website.Armed robbery by men with machetes in girls dorm Tanzania this summer. Despite security guards on duty.Played down by the company.Girls left early very traumatised but fortunately physically unharmed.No refund/apology from Gap medics given to the girls.Security has supposedly been stepped up there but don't know how safe other houses are.Be careful and take out very good travel insurance if you decide to risk it.

Reply 21

siobhanx13

Does anyone know of any other companies that do work experience in a medical setting abroad for 17year olds who are aspiring to study medicine or any other companies that do something similar that would be fun and useful when applying to medicine?

Reply 22

username2317517

Original post by siobhanx13

I searched around and found Plan my gap year, which seems really good and most of the medical volunteering opportunities they offer has a minimum age requirement of 17! Hopefully going with them to Tanzania in August :smile:

Reply 23

Rachael-x

Is anyone planning on going to Morgoro (Tanzania) this summer?

Reply 24

Singaporemario

Be very careful!See my comment above.Armed robbery was in Gapmedics house in Morogoro.
Security will hopefully have been improved but this company did not care and refused to admit that inadequate care was taken.I would look for alternative options.Getting into medicine or nursing is not worth risking your life for.

Reply 25

Rachael-x

When was this? It all looked really safe from what I'd read! I'll definitely look at other options, but there isn't many 17 year olds - thanks for the reply :smile:

Reply 26

username2317517

Original post by Rachael-x

When was this? It all looked really safe from what I'd read! I'll definitely look at other options, but there isn't many 17 year olds - thanks for the reply :smile:

It occured in the girls dorm and they've claimed to have upped their security, as to whether this is true i am unsure.
There are others that accept 17 year olds, i would consider;
Oyster worldwide
Plan my gap year
Global volunteer projects
Gap force,
These were all suggestions (apart from plan my gap year) i recieved from Lawrence Lockhart who advises people of gap years!😊 I can always give you his email addres if you would like to get in touch with him and ask for advice!

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 27

Rachael-x

Original post by Biinnkkxx

Thats great thank you! I didn't realise how many other options there were - I'll definitely have a look :smile:

Reply 28

username2317517

Original post by Rachael-x

Thats great thank you! I didn't realise how many other options there were - I'll definitely have a look :smile:

Definitely keep looking and do your research! Won't be fun to get scammed😔 hahaha i'm still deciding between gap force and plan my gap year😅

Reply 29

GeorginaH97

Original post by rsmith1010

Is it safe there?

I would just like to reiterate what someone else has just said on here because it is 100% true. please do not blinkered by this profit making companies stylish website! Is it safe - quite bluntly NO! I am writing this as I am a teenage girl and I would hate to see another enthusiastic young medical student go through what I have gone through because of gap medics so please bare in mind the risk before choosing this company you don't need it to get into med school there are plenty of other options. I was in the room last summer (2015) which had an armed robbery with two men dressed in black with machetes who stole all of our belongings and threatened us in the middle of the night with no security around, since I have experience extremely psychological problems and post traumatic stress however this company only cares about profit and did not refund any of us girls who left early as we felt unsafe and alone please think before wasting your money on a company like this

Reply 30

Gap Medics

Official Rep

Original post by GeorginaH97

Gap Medics has safely sent more than 7,000 students overseas in the past six years, many of them to Tanzania. It is a very safe country with a popular tourist industry that welcomes thousands of visitors every year.This incident last year was something extremely rare, that has never happened on one of our programs before, because security is a top priority for us. We have two security guards patrolling the area and our compound is surrounded by a seven-foot high stone wall. We also have a female night supervisor on duty at the house all night every night, and other support staff live on site.Students have always been given a safety talk as part of the briefing on arrival. They are also advised to use the panic buttons in each of the houses, should they feel threatened.Our on-site security team dealt with the incident, called for assistance, and no one was physically harmed in the incident. Our staff in Tanzania and at our Head Office in the UK spent a lot of time helping these students and contacting parents to explain what happened.All affected students were offered the opportunity to leave the program and receive a refund for the time they missed, as well as assistance from our local team in getting home.