Bali
At long last Medics Away has revisited Bali and found that it has lost none of its magic. It is a collection of contrasts and amazing sights, people and activities that blend into a whole. It is calm yet exciting, developed yet natural, lazy yet frantic, sophisticated yet primitive but most of all, charming and friendly. Medics Away thoroughly recommends this location as a medical experience which has so much to offer.
Bali is an Indonesian island, one of a collection of 17,508 islands with a population of over 234 million people. The main islands include Bali, Java, Sumatra, Sarawak and Lombok. Bali has been inhabited since early prehistoric times firstly by descendants of a prehistoric race who migrated through mainland Asia to the Indonesian archipelago. The First European contact with Bali is thought to have been when Dutch explorer Cornelis de Houtman arrived in 1597. Dutch rule over Bali came later, was more aggressively fought for, and was never as well established as in other parts of Indonesia such as Java and Maluku.
Bali has had its fair share of disasters over the years. The most striking of these was the infamous 1963 eruption of Mount Agung killing thousands, creating economic havoc and forcing many displaced Balinese to be transmigrated to other parts of Indonesia. More recently the tragedy of the two bombing events some years ago was catastrophic for the Bali population, both in lives lost and economic fallout.
At that time, around the world there was no real appreciation of the seriousness of terrorist actions against innocent victims and security everywhere was less than optimal. In our opinion, with its very evident security measures, Bali is certainly as safe or safer than London, New York, Manchester, Spain or any other unfortunate targets of attack. Like most accidents or crimes, the laws of probability are a traveler’s best friend.
Bali is a small island but not too small and every coastline is different. If you like water there is just about every activity you could wish for: boating, snorkeling, diving, surfing, PADI certification, white water rafting and infinite amounts of underwater exploration. Swimming can be great but you need to be very careful of the conditions and follow advice. Other islands are easily reached by ferry.
A few places that Medics Away team like are Legian, Seminyak, Kuta, Tuban, Nusa Dua, Sanur, Bakas, Candi Dasa, Amed, Pemuteran, Labuhan Lalang, Gitgit, Bedugal, Ubung, Tabanan, the big volcano (Lake Batur), the small volcano (Lake Bratan). Everywhere is different and ranges from interesting to breath-taking, although to describe mountain biking down from a volcano through the jungle villages followed by white-water rafting and elephant riding, you need several words: exhilarating, fascinating, terrifying, scary, emotional and humbling. Discovery Trips are itemized on reservation and will include a good range of activities dependent on your individual desires and capabilities.
Bali’s capital is Denpasar, in the south. This is a bustling city of about 2 million people. Cars and motor bikes jostle together in a well-ordered chaos, all with very little traffic control. Seeing it adds strength to some opinions that think congested England would be better off without traffic lights, just relying on the human brain to regulate proceedings. Driving is on the left but priority is given to traffic from the left, the opposite of the UK. If you want to park, an attendant stops all the traffic for you to cross to the opposite side and then guides you into a space. It is very efficient and you just give him 1,000 Rupiah (Rp) when you leave. At an exchange rate of about 17,400 Rp to the British Pound or 9,000 Rp to the US Dollar, you can see you get pretty good value.
Although it might be tempting to hire a motor cycle or scooter we would strongly advise against it. Transportation is cheap, although there are not a lot of buses. When it comes to value you have to keep reminding yourself our how cheap things are because if you have just paid for a huge meal for 34,000 Rp it seems a lot until you realize that was only 2 British pounds or US$4.
Denpasar is where most medical activity takes place. Set in a number of different hospitals across the city, the full range of medical facilities offer all the usual specialties including Medicine, Surgery, Emergency Medicine and Community rotations. Visas are a little complicated and can take some time to be approved, so early planning is essential. We will assist you in all matters regarding the visa. In fact an elective in Bali requires such good communication between student, hospital and the local Balinese government that organizing an official elective would be very difficult without Medics Away. We simplify this process and have our Representatives do most of the paperwork on your behalf. Bali people all want to improve their English and the medical staff generally are reasonably fluent and very motivated to learn more.
Accommodation is in the beautiful south west of Bali near to the city of Kuta. Set in the shopping, party and sun-bathing capital of Bali, stretching all along the Kuta beach and only twenty minutes drive to Denpasar, it makes the perfect location for all the relaxing and evening entertainments any student could come to want and expect. Transportation to and from the hotel to the hospital for the entire elective is provided.
All of our electives are tailored for the individual, with different students spending different amounts of time in Bali and having different requirements. A typical elective of 8 weeks includes hospital rotations, accommodation, a medical kit, visa and vaccine advice, travel and indemnity insurance advice and a Discovery Trip.
Medics Away electives can be arranged for any duration. Students need to tell us how long they want to go to Bali for and how much of that time they wish to spend in the hospital, or on independent travel. All students should have travel insurance and for British students we only recommend the BMA Elective travel insurance which covers students for needle-stick injuries, HIV and in cases where a student fails their exams and cannot go on their elective (the equivalent cover is provided by alternative companies for other foreign nationals). British, U.S., Canadian and Australian students will require a visa prior to traveling to Bali, and this will be organized with the help of Medics Away prior to departure. Students should always carry an extra $50 USD with them when they depart from Bali to pay for any taxes the airport will charge you. All students should have the relevant vaccines such as Hep B, Hep A, yellow fever, typhoid, tetanus and polio; more information can be found on Travel Doctor‘s website. Anti-malarial prophylaxis will not need to be taken, although there is some incidence of Dengue Fever, in common with many equatorial areas and is spread by mosquitoes, so 50% Deet insect repellent is recommended. Further details of all prophylactic medications required for the elective is provided upon making a reservation. For more information about Bali, our Balinese elective or anything elective related then please go to the Elective page on this website, email us at or phone. We are sure that you’re going to have a great elective and an amazing experience.