Many thanks again to Donna Pilkington and Lisa Quinn from the University of Manchester for allowing us to use the following helpful advice. I hope that you will find it useful!
The elective period offers you the opportunity to spend a significant amount of time anywhere in the world doing any specialty you want. It is probably going to be one of the most memorable parts of your time at medical school! The elective takes place in your final year but how long you spend away and when will change slightly with the restructuring of the last few years of medical school that is currently being undertaken.
However, regardless of when your elective is, it is important to start arranging things early. If you want to spend time with certain specialist groups e.g HEMS in London then it is very important to start making arrangements especially early (couple of years early) since such placements are usually very popular. While each base hospital has a list of contact details for various placements all over the world (either in a folder or online), which you can contact, you don’t necessarily have to limit yourself to these. You can write to any hospital or medical school to enquire about the possibility of undertaking your elective with them (or even the prison service!) and subsequently start making arrangements. You will be responsible for sorting out your entire elective but the Faculty will have to approve it before final arrangements can be made e.g. they won’t allow you to go to certain areas where you would be unsafe.
While most students probably take their elective abroad, some decide to remain in the UK. Regardless of where you go, the elective is an opportunity to do something you want to do wherever you chose! You can be as imaginative as you want and your elective will often provide an interesting talking point at subsequent job interviews.
Here are a few tips :
- start making arrangements early: more effort that you think is involved in arranging it
- speak to students who have already been on their elective: they can provide useful advice and often recommend (or advise to avoid!) places they went to
- use the elective to explore an area of medicine you are particularly interested in or would like to gain more experience of
- buy travel/ health insurance: certain companies such as Medical Sickness provide cover specifically for medical electives- so you are covered for any medical costs and needlestick injuries (e.g.HIV prophylaxis) as well as lost luggage etc.
- check which immunisations you will need for the country you’re visiting and make sure you’re up to date.
- you will need to arrange indemnity insurance, which is provided by the MPS or MDU free of charge to all its members.
- you can arrange to go on your elective with someone else in your year or on your own: having someone you know with you can have its advantages as at times an elective can be lonely.
You will also need to sort out a visa when visiting countries such as Australia and the US. However, it is possible to enter the US under the ‘visa waiver programme’ (see the US Embassy: London http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/niv/vwp.html for appropriate details). Certain institutions, particularly those in the US and Australia will also require a chest x-ray and PPD test for TB clearance.
Some helpful websites: http://www.the-mdu.com/section_Medical_students -an elective website providing extensive information and advice- you can only access this if you are a member of the MDU (free to join).
http://www.medicsworld.co.uk/main.asp -provides a large number of elective reports from hospitals around the world: allows you to search by country and speciality as well as providing important information about the country/hospital your interested in.
http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/Hubmedicalelectives
- the BMA offers advice for medical students on numerous issues including electives: also provides a list of organisations you can apply to for financial assistance. Log in is required to access a general guide on electives.
Recommended book: Medics’ Guide to Work and Electives Around the World: A Guide to Travelling and Working Abroad (Paperback): Mark Wilson £16:99 Hodder Arnold
