Work the World Reviews 191

Great service and flexibility from you guys in relation to COVID. Thank you for your patience. Zambia - see you in the very near future

I found Work the World to be professional and very thorough in their organisation of the placement and preparation they undertake with you before your arrival. I went to Kathmandu teaching hospital in Nepal. I love they include language lessons within the program and videos you can practice with before you leave. Being able to introduce yourself to families in their native language is lovely. During the placement and at the accommodation, I felt well looked after, and being a teaching hospital, we were made welcome. I was there to gain experience and a better understanding of supporting women from other cultures during labour and birth (Midwifery elective) as the UK is now a very multicultural workplace. Although mainly observational, I found staff very keen to find out more about us, particularly in the low-risk birth centre. Overall, a fantastic experience, and whilst this wasn’t the cheapest option, I feel it was worth it. It was important to me that the placement wasn’t unethical, that consent was gained for me to be there and I ensured staff gained consent in each situation. We are all used to students in our workplaces, it was really not too different, in my experience. I was able to fundraise whilst there and donated some much needed equipment, baby cloths for swaddling, sanitary products and hand gel, which staff helped me to source. Whilst not everyone does this, it was nice to do something useful whilst I was there.

In 2010 myself and a couple of friends had the opportunity to organise an international student Nurse placement. After much searching, WorkTheWorld kept popping up as an option. It seemed the most organised and reputable, not to mention cost effective in comparison.
I spent 8weeks in Ghana working at the local hospital. I worked alongside Ghanaian nurses and students, learning and teaching. Work was tough at times but luckily I had such a great support network. I shared a house with a group of other medical professionals, it was so fun and often we would all hang out, play games, explore Ghana and go on weekends away together. The house staff were also incredible, we had an amazing cook who cared for us all.
Going to Ghana a decade ago has impacted my life dramatically, for the good. I have since gone on in my professional nursing career to work in various locations, including Malawi and Uganda!

Work The World are a fab company, I'm very greatful to have had the opportunity!

Go for it!!!

Work the world was the support, I need to help me with my intentional placement. Supported me to pick my ideal placement and helped when plans do not go to plan.

This company used the pandemic to profit - it is inexcusable, dishonest and unethical. They refused to refund any money despite only completing one of three weeks due to covid 19 pandemic. Some other students had several months booked with them that they refused to refund. I would highly recommend avoiding this company. I reached out to them several times and they have showed no compassion, only reciting standardized messages. They offered to defer the placement but I will not have an opportunity to do this placement again as I have since graduated. Even if I did have time to accept their offer of deferring the placement , I would be very skeptical about working with this company in the future.

Would highly recommend staying far away from this company! Seemed a respectable business at first but was so wrong and their true colours were evident during the pandemic. The students are not at the forefront of their mind, the money is. As soon as there is a problem they shut down and hide away! They also lie to try an keep students money!! Telling us to cancel our insurance as they “won’t be able too pay out” when in reality, they would!

I completed a pharmacy placement to Nepal with Work the World a couple years ago and really enjoyed it! It is incredibly difficult to find an overseas company that caters to pharmacy professionals, so this places Work the World above others already. In addition to this, they were so very helpful every step of the way, very informative and paid a great deal of attention to detail. They also proved flexible in terms of working to your schedule and meeting your personal aims. I would definitely recommend!

Point to improve: we receievd a lot of really helpful information throughout but I would have expected some information about the dangers of voluntourism and the derogatory nature of taking and posting pictures on social media, particularly of children. I noticed that a lot of people did this during my trip and were not really cautioned for it. However well-intentioned, we're aware that these actions can have harmful effects. My trip was a couple years ago now, so Work the World may well have impelemented steps to rectify this.

I went to Takoradi in Ghana for 4 weeks. It was the best decision of my life. It had changed me as a person in a good way. I met many brilliant people there. I would encourage everyone to take the experience and travel to one of the spots. You will be safe and will have lots of fun. The people working for WtW are really friendly and approachable. I also appreciated the time I spent with locals which makes me understand the culture more.

Amazing company, very organised, so welcoming. An incredible experience I had in Nepal at the Work the World house, I would recommend for any student looking for something exciting and educational to do over the summer.

PLEASE IF YOU ARE READING THIS, AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS THEY ARE FRAUDSTERS.

I travelled to Tanzania using the company work the world. Would highly recommended, a very reliable and reputable company which made the experience and easy and enjoyable one.

Amazing time and really well organised. The leader phone calls are so useful in making sure that you are prepared

Amazing service, really lovely work the world house in Ghana. Everyone that worked there was so so lovely. Couldn't recommend using work the world more 🌍

Work the world is an incredible experience, with wonderful staff who supported us all throughout and It was just a fantastic opportunity to go explore and learn about a different culture.

From day 1 work the world were extremely helpful and clear when arranging my nursing placement in Vietnam. It was very easy to get in contact with them and I received some lovely phone calls from members of the team during the process of getting ready for my trip. The online planner was colourful and easy to navigate and whilst on the placement I got the chance to immerse myself in Vietnamese living and culture in a beautiful house/location. It was so much fun!

Had a month placement in the Philippines as part of a mental health degree. Was brilliant and I felt safe. Lots of things to do, mostly meeting with people in the house and planning flights/trips to other places. You really feel alive here.

***DO NOT BOOK THROUGH WORK THE WORLD**
This company, like many others, showed their true colours during the COVID-19 pandemic. While most of us final year medical students were helping out where we could in hospitals, this company refused to refund our elective to Mexico despite not actually providing a service. A sum of over £2000 was lost as a result, for me this was all of my savings. Furthermore, the customer service of the team at Work the World was absolutely shocking. Not only were we not informed that our trip had been cancelled, the staff were deliberately unhelpful during any attempt at contacting them. As a large company this is even more unacceptable. I am inclined wonder what they have done with the thousands of pounds they refuse to refund us medical students, now doctors, as it seems so selfish and inhumane that a company should be profiting from a global disaster.

All they care about is money, unfortunate to see they are up to their old tricks again. My daughter had a midwifery placement booked for last year but due to the bombings in Sri Lanka and the FCO advice banning all but essential travel we called work the world to ask for a refund - told no the trip wasn't cancelled unless we cancelled, just postponed, they basically held this stance until approx 6 weeks before the trip was due to take place, then the FCO advice changed but by then though most people had decided to go elsewhere, we were told if you cancel thats your choice you will lose at least half your money and the closer you get to travel date the more you lose or you can reschedule elsewhere , not an option as my daughter only had the window she had booked for travel due to the constraints of her work placements at home needed for her degree, also extra upfront cost of paying for another flight to new destination before any refund for exisiting flight so financially not an option either. Disgusting attitude from the operations manager in the office, passed me to one of the directors tried playing mr nice but just a ruse to stretch time whilst FCO advice was in place, hoping that we would cancel and therefore allow wtw to keep our money, couldn't answer my questions when asked to justify the proportion of amount of money they would retain in relation to cancellation periods, claimed only his accountant would have that info and i had no right to ask so could not and would not give me a breakdown of what they ACTUALLY had to pay out vs what they would keep. Eventually only got a refund via insurance company as my father in law was placed into an induced coma a few weeks before my daughter was due to travel and she understandably didn't want to leave the country with him being so very ill, even this made no difference to wtw, the director who was dealing with me was beside himself with joy to learn he would get to keep all our money as we had no option but to cancel but as he put it " you won't get your money back from us as you are cancelling but you can claim on the insurance" i said that we would do that but if he had any morals he as one of the owners of the company should do the right thing and refund us not expect the insurance company to basically pay up - no all we got was a letter for the insurers.
We did tell the university what had gone on and recommended they stop using or advertising wtw due to our experience but seems it fell on deaf ears as now more people have been ripped off I'm sorry for you all and truly hope this company has to pay you all back as the money they have kept does not rightfully or morally belong to them no matter what terms and conditions they impose/ hide behind

**DO NOT BOOK WITH WORK THE WORLD**
I am truly disgusted with how Work the World have treated myself and others healthcare students during the Covid-19 crisis. At least 7 friends and I (all final year medical students) have lost around £2,540 each to this company. We wrongly assumed booking with a well known company would cover us if something unexpected (such as a pandemic) occurred. However, this was most definitely not the case.

The first time we heard that our elective placement had been cancelled was online through our login - no email, no call, nothing. When asked how to claim our money back we were told the only options were to postpone the placement (not possible as we were about to go into full time work for the NHS) or to claim money back from insurance (also were not willing to cover the claim). Work the world were very unhelpful during any phone calls and emails - we felt they had no respect for us as their clients. I recognise this is a tough time for all companies and would have understood if they required to keep a deposit of some sort however they blatantly refused any type of refund. I would like to know exactly what my £2,540 worth of savings is being used for considering I have not stepped into the country. It seems an extraordinarily expensive T-shirt is all I will be receiving from Work the World.

I would NOT recommend Work the World for placements abroad - I am sure it would have been a lovely experience however they can not be trusted to help you when difficulties hit.

Read my story and experiences on the Work the World website (Medicin-Cambodia)