The WAMSS Elective Database is written, curated, and produced by students to give you tips on applying and organising your clinical elective.
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Timestamp | Student Name | Name of elective host institution | Country of Elective | City/town | Name of Hospital/Clinic/Facility | Specialty/ties completed | Elective Start Date | Elective End Date | How did you arrange this elective? | URL to elective institution/application and contact details | Name of elective agency (e.g. Work the World) - if applicable | Tips on how to apply | How would you rate your elective experience overall? | Please give a summary of your overall elective experience | Languages spoken at elective placement | What aspects of your elective did you enjoy the most? | What aspects of the elective did you enjoy the least? | What should you bring for this elective? | Would you recommend this elective to future students? | If not, why not? | Tips for future students | Did your elective charge an application fee/donation? | If your elective charged fees/donation, how much did you pay? | What was the total cost of your elective including elective fees, flights, accommodation and insurance? | Please provide a breakdown of costs (optional) | Did you receive a scholarship or bursary for your elective? | If you received a scholarship/bursary, please select the relevant box | Did you receive an OS-HELP loan for your elective? | Did you receive a loan or grant from a bank or financial institution for your elective? (Optional) | If you received a loan or grant, please tick the relevant boxes | Did you travel to another destination prior to, or after, your elective | If yes, which destinations did you go to? | Please place any tips on vacations opportunities whilst on elective | Did you complete your elective at another placement? | Email address |
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| 2018 | Elaine | Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital | China | Hangzhou | N/A | Emergency Medicine, Endocrinology | 08/01/2018 | 02/02/2018 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | http://www.srrsh-english.com/International-Electives/elective-application.html | Can apply in English or Chinese - the admin workers speak both languages. | 7 | Was a good experience. Most patients do not speak English, so it's best if you know some Mandarin if you want to take a history/examine the patient. Limited procedural opportunities. Best to know some medical terms in Mandarin-- they do translate for you, but not in great detail. | Mandarin, some English | Very nice staff, wide variety of patients, exposure to the culture | Limited English spoken at the hospital | Visa (very important for China) | Yes | - If you want to access Facebook, Gmail etc. make sure you download a VPN and set it up before going to China. - Baidu, Alipay, and Wechat are essential apps for China. - Baidu maps is useful for figuring out how to transport around China - Best to set up a bank account if you're there for more than a couple of weeks-- Bank of China is the one I used, they just need your passport and your Chinese phone number (you can get this at a China Mobile or any other mobile store) - At Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, they will lend you a white doctor coat and swipe card. These need to be returned at the end of your placement. The swipe card is also a meal card - cafeteria food is very cheap, usually less than $2 AUD per tray. | No | ~$3000 | Flights ~$1200 Accommodation ~$1500 (for 4.5 weeks) Insurance ~$300 | No | No | No | No | Went travelling on the weekends of my elective. Shanghai is ~1hr away from Hangzhou by high speed rail, tickets are not too expensive (approx $16 AUD one way). Trains come very often too, once per hour. Other cities are also very close to Hangzhou and can be reached by train, e.g. Suzhou. | No | |||||||
| 2018 | Ryan | Cho Ray Hospital | Vietnam | Ho Chi Minh City | N/A | Tropical Disease & Emergency | 25/12/2017 | 19/01/2018 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | URL: http://choray.vn/TTChiDaoTuyen/Default.aspx?tabid=135&ID=4085 Email: [email protected] | Send them an email - they take applications up to 3 months before (would recommend sending it about 4-5 months before to make sure all the paperwork gets completed) | 9 | 2 weeks in Tropical Diseases (TD) followed by 2 weeks in Emergency Department (ED). The Tropical Diseases Department is a really friendly place, and they have a lot of younger doctors who can speak relatively good English which means that they can teach and explain a bit. You will see a lot of conditions which you will almost never see in Australia like malaria and dengue. Days start at 8am and you are only expected to be there in the morning, which finishes at 11am (most of the time you will be done by 10am). Most patients only speak Vietnamese, but more often than not there are other Australian elective students who can speak Vietnamese. ED is very different to Australia with a much higher flow of patients. ED doctors are more shy about speaking English, but there are one or two who are very enthusiastic about teaching and practising their English. Morning shifts are from 8am-2pm, but you can leave at any time you want. Cho Ray Hospital is the biggest trauma centre, so you will see a lot of motor vehicle and construction accidents. Good chance to practice sutures. There will be a few confronting issues like the minimal use of pain relief and sedation, but patients tough it out pretty well. Overall, a good experience with a lot of time to explore Vietnam and enjoy the culture. | Vietnamese, English (limited) | Interesting cases and conditions, short days, really nice and approachable doctors (especially in Tropical Diseases Department), decent teaching. Good chance to practice suturing in ED and see lots of common cases as well. Different approaches to diagnosing diseases. | Wearing the white coat - not nice when it gets more humid, but air con helps. Sometimes doctors in ED are very busy, but in general, mornings are a good time to learn. | Stethoscope, lab coat (hospital does provide for loan), clinical dress, laptop, enthusiasm 🙂 | Yes | Tropical Diseases Department asks everyone to do a case presentation (in English). They are pretty chill about it, but bring your laptop (internet is generally faster in Vietnam than Australia - personal experience). ED is a different but very good experience. Other medical students said that they enjoyed their surgical and anesthesiology terms as well (I think they got pretty hands on with it). | Yes | AUD$450-500 (costs 2,000,000 VND / week) | Approx. AUD$4500 | All approximate values: Application fee - AUD$500 Flight - AUD$1000 Accomodation - AUD$1500 Food, travel, spending - $1500 | Yes | WAMSS (Financial hardship) Scholarship, Bank of Queensland - FutureFocus | No | No | Yes | Central Vietnam - Da Lat, Nha Trang, Da Nang, Hue, South Vietnam & Mekong Delta | Would recommend Da Nang - nice beaches, temples, amusement parks. You can fly there from Ho Chi Minh City and explore the surrounding area as well (easily can go to Hue for a day trip). Da Lat is also nice, but can only get there by driving / bus. Nice mountainous area with a really beautiful climate, but there isn't a tonne of things to do. | No | ||||
| 2018 | Rachael | University of Glasgow | Scotland | Glasgow | Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre | Oncology (+ small amount of palliative care) | 08/01/2018 | 02/02/2018 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/medicine/mus/visitingelectives/ | Need to apply early (at least 8-10 months in advance) as it is very popular | 10 | I had an amazing time. Spent time with all of the different tumour teams in clinics/on wards/treatment areas. Also spent a day in a hospice with palliative care team. Everyone was very friendly and very keen to teach and involve you | English | Clinics (particularly lung cancer, lymphoma, and urological cancers). Being at hospice with palliative care team | None! | Usual clothes you’d wear to hospital (NHS has very strict bare below elbows policy), stethoscope | Yes | Nobody expects you to be an oncology expert, so don’t worry if you know nothing. They’re just happy if you’re interested. They’re happy to let you leave early/take Fridays off to go exploring | Yes | £100 | ~$4000 | Return flights ~$2500 Accomodation in Glasgow ~$900 Living costs/enjoying myself ~$1000 | No | No | No | Yes | Explored Scotland, Amsterdam, London | Really easy to explore rest of Scotland/UK and Europe | No | |||||
| 2018 | Rebecca | Work the World | Tanzania | Dar Es Salaam | Amana | O&G | 18/12/2018 | 29/12/2018 | I arranged my elective through an elective agency (e.g. Work the World) | https://www.worktheworld.com.au/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhPvcj9HI2QIVXgoqCh2fuwEfEAAYASAAEgLYD_D_BwE | Work the World | Simple application, pay the deposit and they will have a timeline of when information is due and they will contact you plenty of times | 8 | I spent 2 weeks in O&G, it was amazing experience with everyone being very friendly and willing to get me involved. It really makes you appreciate how good how health care system is in Australia. | English and Swahili | Hands on experience and being able to deliver babies. | It could feel very isolating when everyone was speaking Swahili and all I could do was introduce myself. The standards at the hospital, in terms of patient privacy and consent and the general state of the hospital was confronting. | Scrubs, gloves, sanitising gel, disposable aprons, donations | Yes | It was an amazing experience, you just have to go in with an open mind and realise that it is not going to be what you are used to back home. | Yes | $3,790 | ~$6,500 | The cost for work the world includes accomodation and meals on most days. | No | Yes | No | No | There was the opportunity to go on safari, but I missed out because there wasn't much popularity at the time because it was at christmas time. There is also the opportunity to go across to Zanzibar, with the project coordinator knowing a person over there, who will take good care of you | Yes | |||||
| 2018 | Thisuri | Northern Provincial Hospital | Vanuatu | Luganville, Santo | N/A | ED, internal med, O&G | 08/01/2018 | 02/02/2018 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://www.electives.net/hospital/3990/preview | Need to send multiple emails AND phone calls. Apply early and be patient, they are very slow to respond ("island time"). | 8 | Exciting experience in an under-resourced community. NPH has plenty of opportunities for procedural skills and assessing patients by yourself in ED, good ward round teaching from clinicians and a range of patient cases including non-communicable and infectious diseases. Unfortunately, NPH no longer allows medical students to do deliveries so O&G was a bit disappointing. Most patients know at least a little English so communication was not a huge problem. All the staff speak fluent English and medical notes are in English. There were a lot of elective students at NPH while we were there, probably too many for such a small hospital. This meant ward rounds could get absurdly big so more difficult for learning (>5 students for ward round of 6 patients at times). Also meant students couldn't do the speciality they wanted for the whole time because we had to share around hospital wards between the students. On the other hand having heaps of students is awesome for organising group trips and hanging out! Most days we spent 3-5 hours at the hospital and had afternoons to explore Santo. Easy to get around on foot/by taxi/ mini bus for resorts, beaches and snorkelling spots. Also good diving, hikes and weekend trips along the coast or to the smaller islands | English, French, Bislama | Emergency- assessing patients, seeing a range of cases from resuscitations to minor ailments. Also enjoyed exploring Santo! Staying at Hibiscus Motel- this is the best place which was mostly full of medical students from all around while we were there. It has everything you need- wifi, hot water (temperamental), kitchenette (might want to bring spare chopping board, bowls, tea towels, storage containers), small fridge and freezer. The lady who runs it is wonderful, does your laundry once per week and will organise any sight seeing trips you want to do 🙂 | Insects! There is Malaria (though apparently rare) and dengue. We didn't see any cases while at the hospital but there was a dengue outbreak after we left. Bring lots of insect repellant. Also be prepared for spiders, cockroaches etc | Insect repellant Scrubs (you can borrow from the hospital accommodation), also ok to wear long skirts/shorts with light tops for girls and shorts with short-sleeved shirts for boys. Good shoes for hospital- sneakers/ birkenstocks are fine. The walk to the hospital is uphill and it often rains. Umbrella/ rain jacket Hat, lots of sunscreen Bathers and extra towels | Yes | Contact NPH really really early- emails and phone. We paid ~$350 elective fee to the hospital before we went. Book accommodation early- Hibiscus motel booked out and some students couldn't get in this year. | Yes | $350 | $3000 | Accommodation-$350 (Hibiscus was 2000 vatu per night per room, up to 3 people in a room) Flights-$1400 (including weekend stopver in Vila and ~3 days in Sydney) Food not too expensive- fresh produce at the market and butcher is cheap, imported stuff at the supermarket is more pricey, eating out is similar to Perth prices. | Yes | PF Sobotka | No | No | Yes | Port vila, Sydney | Port vila is worth going to do, but 1-2 days is more than enough. Activities are similar to what's available in Santo and perhaps not as good (snorkelling, diving, hiking). Over the weekend, markets/shops/ most foreign exchange places in Port vila are closed after lunchtime Saturday so factor that into your plans. In Santo itself, heaps of snorkelling, diving, beaches, cool nature-y things to do- very easy to organise once you are there. Not a lot of forward planning needed. | No | ||||
| 2018 | Gemma | University of Dundee | Scotland | Dundee | Ninewells Hospital | Infectious Disease | 08/01/2018 | 02/02/2018 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | Dundee.ac.uk | Pretty straightforward instructions, just follow them. Staff are pretty helpful with email enquiries but sometimes take a while to reply. | 7 | Ninewells is a tertiary teaching hospital in a rich country (UK) and I was on a ward-based placement so the experience was very similar to being on the wards in Australia. The hospital is run almost identically to the hospitals at home in Aus. I was attached to the Infectious Disease team and got a good mix of teaching/consultant ward rounds, normal ward rounds, ward jobs, clinic and free time. I was basically allowed to go and do whatever interested me (going to theatre with ID patients, seeing TTEs etc). Also saw a fecal transplant which was fairly revolting but medically extremely interesting. The hospital generally is used to having students around so most departments are very accommodating if you want to observe stuff. | English | Freedom to go and do things I thought were interesting (theatre with ID patients etc). Fecal transplant was awesome. | Got stuck doing ward jobs a lot of the time which is good practice for intern year but not very medically interesting. There were a LOT of other students on the team at the time I was there (from Uni of Dundee med school - 4 4th years and 3 5th years) which made ward rounds pretty crowded and competition for patients fierce. | Normal clinical clothes and equipment (ie. steth). The hospital will organise accommodation for you at the nurses quarters which is attached to the hospital, very convenient. They are very strict on bare below the elbows so pack short sleeved tops. Cold weather gear normal for the UK. You can buy anything you forget or don’t bring so don’t worry too much. The accommodation was very basic so we all went to Tesco the first day to buy pillows and blankets to make our stay a bit more comfortable. Bring a towel or buy one when you arrive. Ladies, try to get clothes with pockets - no women here carry bags round the wards and I don’t know how. I just carried my tiny handbag anyway but got some funny looks. | Yes | Take good note of the differences in antibiotic prescribing practices between Aus and UK - this was one of the things I found most interesting! Know about sepsis. All of the consultants give good teaching so don’t miss consultant ward rounds. There will be lots of other students there from Uni of Dundee but I was kind of treated as special because I was on elective? Like got to go to morning briefing and stuff which the other students didn’t. Because it’s a teaching hospital with millions of students, there is often teaching on - ask the 5th year students and the FY1 (intern) doctors when their teaching is. | Yes | £200 | Around $3500 | Flights $1750, accommodation £250 for 5 weeks, insurance around $150, food and other stuff maybe $1000? I have a British passport so didn’t need a visa, apparently this was v expensive, others can tell you more about this. | No | Yes | No | Yes | London and visiting family in other parts of Scotland | Dundee is kind of in the middle of Scotland so not a bad base for sightseeing around the highlands. | No | |||||
| 2018 | Natasha | Albany Regional Hospital | Australia | Albany | N/A | Surgery | 18/12/2017 | 28/01/2018 | I applied to the Rural Clinical School (Rural WA electives only) | 10 | Was treated like an intern. Got to see any patient in the whole hospital that I wanted, got to go spend a lot of time in ED, clerk patients, learnt periop considerations (fluid balance, common intern calls from nurses, constipation, pain management). Scrubbed on almost every surgery - surgeons were great teachers , sat in on a few clinics as well (although you can avoid this if you want). Got in on orthopaedics and O&G cases as well. Got taught a lot by the general medical teams (basically anyone who was around would grab you and teach - and show you all the interesting patients). Also, the junior doctors, nurses and allied health had multiple social events to get involved in. LOGISTICS: Ward rounds at 7.30, 8 on Thursdays, weekends you could come in or not - your choice, no elective surgeries but you can ask the reg to call you if emergencies come in. I was pretty keen to hang around so I would sometimes do night shifts, ward cover until 10pm, and most days I would stay until the intern left at 5.30. I could've left earlier most days if i'd wanted to. Also, I got all public holidays off. | English | So much practical experience. Great teachers. | Nothing. Just a note that I had my own accommodation in Albany and I don't know what costs would be for other people. | Enthusiasm | Yes | - get someone add you to the whatsapp group - albany is beautiful, if you haven't been before there is heaps to do and see around town (eg. natural bridge, the gap, chainsaw drive, denmark - elephant rock and greenspool + wineries) - BE ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT LEARNING | No | i have family in albany so $0 | No | No | No | No | No | |||||||||||
| 2018 | Sharmini | Seoul National University Hospital | South Korea | Seoul | N/A | Vascular/Transplant Surgery | 08/01/2018 | 26/01/2018 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | http://medicine.snu.ac.kr/oia/product/index2.htm | 9 | It was an amazing opportunity to learn more about the korean culture and their medical system | Korean and English | Being able to assist with the surgeries | Nil | Warm clothes! It gets super cold during winter | Yes | Just a word of caution, it definitely helps if you're able to speak a little bit of Korean as most of them are quite shy to speak in english. Nonetheless they do try their best to explain the procedures being done in english; whenever possible 🙂 | No | $1500 | No | No | No | No | Definitely recommend visiting Namsan tower and the palaces | No | |||||||||
| 2018 | Madison | University of Stellenbosch | South Africa | Cape Town | Tygerberg Academic Hospital | Emergency | 08/01/2018 | 02/02/2018 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://www.sun.ac.za/english/faculty/healthsciences/Pages/International-undergraduate-elective-students0416-5756.aspx | Just email the international office | 5 | Good exposure to infectious disease. Not much guidance but if you don't mind waiting around, you can practice clerking and doing procedural skills. Can leave pretty early so there is lots of time to explore Cape Town | English, Afrikaans | Interesting rounds, simulation training | Poor guidance and support | Stethoscope, tourniquet, notebook, scrubs | No | Would recommend a place that is closer to the city if going to Cape Town. It's about a 25 min drive from the hospital to the city | Get as involved as you can! | Yes | $1000 for four weeks | $4000 | $2000 flights, $1000 elective, $1000 accommodation | Yes | Study Abroad Scholarship | Yes | No | Yes | Tanzania, Zanzibar, Johannesburg | If going to africa, GO ON SAFARI | No | |||
| 2018 | Brittney | Northern Provincial Hospital, Vanuatu | Vanuatu | Luganville | N/A | ED/Gen Med/Paeds/O&G | 08/01/2018 | 05/02/2018 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | Dr Basil Leodoro [email protected] / Lester [email protected] | Get in early, and if you haven't had a response within a couple of weeks be as persistent as you can | 8 | It was great - only half days at the hospital, very willing to teach, lots of things to see and do on the island | Bislama, English | The patients, the under-resourced nature of the hospital, | Not being able to catch babies | Scrubs, comfy sandals, adventure gear, LINCS stuff (basic medical supplies) | Yes | See my blog - http://www.vanuatumedicalelective.wordpress.com | Yes | around AUD$400 | Approx $3k | No | Yes | No | No | No | ||||||||
| 2018 | Yang | National Taiwan University Hospital | Taiwan | Taipei | N/A | Neurosurgery/Emergency | 18/12/2017 | 14/01/2018 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://www.med.ntu.edu.tw/main.php?Page=N8O2 For questions, please contact: Ms Iwen Chang Email: [email protected] Tel:+886-2-23123456 ext 88753 Fax:+886-2-23956618 | N/A | Email I-Wen (or whoever is in her position), she will send you the NTU Application Form which you will have to sign, she will also send you a "Letter of Agreement and Recommendation" which you will need to get your elective coordinator the sign. When completed, send everything back to her (including UWA letters, insurance, CV etc. etc.). She will then reply in a month's time (depending on how fast the faculty you are interested in responds) to give you the all clear. If she doesn't, you can kindly remind her at around the 1 month mark. If you have applied to stay at Alumni Hall on the Application Form, a hotel-like accommodation for international students, then she will send you another document to sign. Then just sign it and email it back. | 9 | 2 wks at neurosurgery 11/10 2 wks at emergency 4/10 Neurosurgery was fantastic, my supervisor (Mr Tsuang Fon-Yih, I might have butchered it) was very friendly and fun. Recognises international students probably just wants to travel and sight see. Gave plenty of opportunities to leave early. But he also gave me his full 2 week schedule and pointed out the 'fun activities' at night which usually involved drinking or travelling to a branch hospital 2 hours away from Taipei and spending the night there (I got my own double room at a 4 star hotel paid by the hospital). So put your hand up if you feel like going, but I wasn't pressured into participating at anytime. Also made friends with some of the interns and residents (registrars) who took me around Taipei during their time off, which I thought was very generous of them. ED have structured classes with the 5th/6th years, then ED shifts which you are expected to attend. While you can leave early, the ED coordinator shifts in and out to check on the attendance of students. ED felt like work, 9 am - 4/5 pm, gym, food, sleep, repeat. My supervisor for ED unfortunately was only around Taipei for 2 days/week. The ED doctors also rotated through their ED sub-departments everyday, so you will never see the same group of doctors 2 days in a row. They also give you an optional ambulance shift. Mine was 6-10 pm on the last Friday of my elective. #Notworth Fortunately I had made some friends during my time there through my accommodation and the hospital, and extra curricular activities became group activities. Me and another UWA student was sharing a room at Alumni Hall, there were a few other students from Sydney, Japan and living on the same floor so a few door knock later, we were chilling and chugging beers together. Some of the junior doctors took me hiking, we had some dinners together and they showed me around the night markets of Taipei, which were all very enjoyable. If you wish to travel further, you may go via train, which is fairly convenient to access. On the last weekend I traveled to Hualian, a town on the east coast of Taiwan, from there I went to a tourist attraction called Taroko National Park. The view was great, and I spent half a day by myself and a full day with a tour group. | Mandarin, English, Hokkien | Neurosurgery, Sight seeing/travelling around Taiwan, Drinking with the neurosurgeon and friends, Food | Emergency, long-ish hours for an elective, coordinator checks on your attendance, very little attention given to you by the ED doctors. | White coat is compulsory (if you have a short version, bring the short version) New Taiwan Dollars/MasterCard/Travel card | Yes | Would not recommend ED, esp to non-Mandarin speakers. | Get an EasyCard and top it up. It pays for metros, 7/11s, and most of the restaurants in the food court under the hospital. If you are staying < 1 month, grab the 1000 taiwan dollars sim card from the airport (~40 AUD) which gives you unlimited data for 30 days. Might be good to know a bit of Mandarin. Medicine is taught in English in Taiwan, but everyone speaks in Mandarin, with English technical terms inserted randomly throughout the conversation. That being said, most doctors can still communicate in English and hold a conversation. Cheap gym ~5 min walk from the hospital, think it's about $2 per entry, good facilities, mostly students. Buy the train tickets early. There are fast and regular trains, the fast trains' tickets sell out fast but it can half your travel time. Learn a bit about your specialty before your arrive. | Yes | USD $75, paid upon arrival | AUD 2800 not including food/shopping | Accomodation: NT 800 per day for the first 10 days, NT 600 per day afterwards ~AUD 900 Flight return: ~AUD 1400 (Air Asia) Elective fee: NT 2500 per week (4 weeks ~AUD 450) | No | No | No | Yes | China, Beijing | No | ||||
| 2018 | Jillien | Keio University | Japan | Tokyo | Keio University Hospital | Neurology and Paediatrics | 08/01/2018 | 05/02/2018 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | http://www.med.keio.ac.jp/en/admissions/clinical-elective/ | Check if able to apply as UWA isn’t a partner University (if you are, you’ll have to pay an elective fee of ¥2100/day). Applications/documents only accepted about 3 months before your elective date. | 8 | Paediatrics was great - doctors went out of their way to hold ward rounds in English, and you rotate across several paed specialties! Neuro didn’t use English as much but you are paired with one doctor who you follow everywhere and translates for you; you can also join neuro clinics. | English; Japanese | Very organised - both paeds and neuro made timetables for the exchange students. All doctors very helpful with translation and explanations! Admin officer in charge of international placements also very helpful with all your queries. Also loved the freedom to travel around Tokyo at the end of the day (most days finish at 4pm, sometimes 6-8pm if meetings) and to travel outside of Tokyo on weekends! | Long days sometimes - paeds has weekly meetings 6-8pm and biweekly 4-hour Ward rounds; neuro has evening handover meetings 1-2 times a week. | White coat to wear on the wards Notebook (lots to learn and write); laptop optional (neuro might give you homework) | Yes | Get organised early! Consider what you want to learn and let Keio know so the doctors will focus on that. Definitely recommend paeds! 2 weeks of paeds may be too short. | Yes | ¥39900 (¥2100/day) | Approximately $3000 | Elective fee ¥39900; flights AUD$1500 (return); accommodation (if have dorm vacancies = free, otherwise self-organised) ¥63000 with ¥30000 deposit (of which ¥20000 is returned) at a share house; insurance free with Avant | Yes | PF Sobotka | No | No | Yes | Osaka and Kyoto (Japan) | Weekends are free to travel; lots of easy day trips from Tokyo (but can get pricy!). If travelling for a good chunk of time before/after the elective, get a Japan Rail Pass. | No | ||||
| 2018 | Elyse | Victoria Hospital | St Lucia | Castries | N/A | Emergency Department | 08/01/2018 | 02/02/2018 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | [email protected] | Email as early as possible | 9 | Poorly equipped ED with a huge focus on clinical medicine | English | Short days, heaps of free time to explore/island hop | N/A | Normal clinical clothes/stethoscope | Yes | Stay at Ruby's Haven, amazing accommodation with great hosts and conveniently close to the city/buses | Yes | 200 euro | Didn't add it up with all the extra travel | Yes | Study Abroad Scholarship | No | No | Yes | USA, Barbados, Martinique | Spend a few days in Martinique | No | |||||
| 2018 | Jack | Kompiam District Hospital | Papua New Guinea | Kompiam | N/A | Whole hospital | 01/01/2018 | 30/01/2018 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | http://kompiamhospital.org/ | Just email Dr David Mills at [email protected] and ask him about completing your elective at Kompiam. It was a ridiculously easy process for us! | 8 | Its a reasonably hard working elective at an under-resourced rural hospital in the developing world. We basically worked as junior doctors, helping out on ward rounds, scrubbing in in theatre, doing ward jobs and reviewing all new admissions. It was brilliant for gaining skills of history taking, examination, formulation, and, in particular, clinical reasoning. Also great to get a chance to do some scrubbing and anaesthetics in theatre. Lots of infectious disease and trauma medicine. | Pigeon and Engan | Admitting/clerking patients on our own. Being on call for emergencies overnight. Getting to go "on patrol" to a nearby village. | You have very limited access to communicating with home. We bought sim cards to access data, but this was very slow and really just allowed for messenger. | A sense of adventure. Lots of movies/tv shows downloaded on your computer or hard drive. Probably check with LINCS about taking donated medical equipment over. | Yes | Get involved, talk to everyone, expect to be in minimal contact with the outside world. Don't worry about all the people holding machetes and axes. We never felt unsafe. | No | It was like $25 a night each for accommodation. That was it. | I think about $3000, including a week in Cairns. | No | No | Yes | Bank of Queensland Specialist (BOQS) | Yes | Cairns | Australia or the Pacific really are about it. | No | |||||
| 2018 | Cathy | Cho Ray Hospital | Vietnam | Ho Chi Minh City | N/A | Emergency & Tropical Medicine | 01/01/2018 | 26/01/2018 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | http://choray.vn/TTChiDaoTuyen/Default.aspx?tabid=135&ID=4085 Dr. NGUYEN NGOC BICH CHIEF OF TRAINING DEPARTMENT – CHO RAY HOSPITAL Tel: 84 8 38 554137 – ext: 2392 Fax: 84 8 38 557267 E-Mail: [email protected] | 8 | Great for students wishing to experience medicine in a different culture / developing country + have a holiday. Doctors at Cho Ray are lovely and so are the patients. Yummy, cheap food everywhere and lots of shopping to be done! | Vietnamese, English | - Seeing differences between Vietnam's and Australia's healthcare system - Seeing different presentations than here in Australia e.g. many snake bites, motorbike injuries - Meeting new friends from America, Interstate, Switzerland, Austria etc. (there are many international students and doctors at this hospital) | - Not being able to take part in clinical work (high rates of Hep B + no hospital protocol for needlestick injuries) | - Application documents as per link above - White lab coat (doctors and students wear coats like in the US, if you don't have one you can borrow one from the hospital), stethoscope - Mosquito repellent - PEP prophylaxis if you intend to undertake clinical work - Hep B, Yellow Fever, Typhoid vaccination, maybe Rabies vaccination as well | Yes | - It helps if you can speak Vietnamese. Most doctors can speak English, but the majority of patients DO NOT speak English (besides the occasional international patient). Recommend going with someone who can speak Vietnamese if you don't, otherwise this could be frustrating/disappointing for you. - I was advised to not do any clinical work (e.g. suturing, cannulation, assisting in surgery), as Cho Ray do not have protocol/guidelines for needlestick injuries. You can do this stuff if you wish, but it's at your own risk. - The training department is closed on New Year's Day so recommend that you apply to start after New Year's. | Yes | $2 million VND per week (about $110 per week) - pay in full at the beginning | $1700 | Flights: $1000 (Singapore Airlines) Accommodation: Stayed with family Travel insurance: $300 Elective fee: $400 | Yes | WAMSS (Financial hardship) Scholarship | No | No | No | No | |||||||
| 2018 | Melinda | Association for Health and Welfare in the Nilgiris (ASHWINI) | India | Gudalur | Gudalur Adivasi Hospital | Gen med, gen surg, obs/gynae, paeds | 01/01/2018 | 26/01/2018 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | http://medicalstudentelectives.in/ | Usually quite quick to respond, will actually read your application to find out what you're interested in | 9 | You are very well taken care of by the staff running their elective program, really inspirational work and lovely people in the organisation. Really good experience in terms of community health for marginalised peoples, and the doctors are very good teachers. Hands on in theatre however due to language barriers your participation on the ward is mostly limited to observation. Field visits to the villages are a pretty special experience, and you have the oppurtunity to do some teaching for the nursing students there which was also really quite special. | All doctors and most nurses speak english, patients speak predominantly tamil with some malayalam | Field visits to remote villages | Not being able to talk to patients without having a nurse translate | Your stethoscope, student ID, consider contacting LINCS as the hospital will appreciate donations of medical supplies. Clothing covering shoulders and pants for any gender are suitable on placement - women may benefit from buying salwar in India. A jumper is necessary as it can get quite cold there. | Yes | Most information is on the website and they're quick to respond if you want to email them any questions, when you're there you might get offered to do some teaching to the nursing students and the affiliated school students - make these short with lots of pictures. | Yes | 1,600 AUD - covers food, accomodation, most transport | about $3000 | elective fee of 1600 covered most things apart from flights and extra travelling | No | Yes | No | Yes | Bangalore, mysore then Kochi | we flew into bangalore, travelled down to mysore, got a cab from the hospital to gudalur then left via kochi afterwards. This worked out pretty well. The area around the hospital is gorgeous and weekend trips can be arranged during placement, the staff will help with this and will subsidise some trips. | No | |||||
| 2018 | Hannah | University of Malta Medical School | Malta | Msida | Mater Dei Hospital | Paediatric Surgery | 08/01/2018 | 02/02/2018 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://www.um.edu.mt/ms/medical_electives_programme | It was a really straightforward process, send in the application form and the application fee is not paid until you are actually accepted | 9 | I went to Malta with another medical student and we both had a fantastic time. We knew nothing about Malta before this elective and it has such a rich history and beautiful sights. The paediatric surgery team was really friendly and we were able to see patients and scrub in on surgeries as much as we wanted. We had most of the afternoons off to explore and since Malta is so small, you can see the whole island via the public bus. We had great weather despite being winter, the mornings would start out cloudy but would clear up and there was very little rain. The fact that it was winter also meant that all of the tourist sights were easy to get in to. Everybody spoke English really well. | English, Maltese | Exploring Malta, welcoming team | Ward rounds did tend to be conducted in Maltese | Stethoscope | Yes | - Definitely visit the other islands (Gozo and Comino) and if you're brave enough, bring bathers to go swimming (although it's winter it was worth it!) - The bus system can get you almost everywhere, if you're organised get a Tallinja card (the Maltese smartrider) sent to you in Australia before you go - You can use Malta as a base to visit other European countries (we went to Sicily one weekend which was fantastic) | Yes | 375 Euro (~$588) | $4073 | Flights: $2200 Airbnb: $1135 (for 5 weeks) Fees: $588 Insurance: $150 | No | No | No | No | ||||||||
| 2018 | Rama | University of British Columbia | Canada | Vancouver | Vancouver General Hospital | ICU | 08/01/2018 | 04/02/2018 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://www.afmcstudentportal.ca/institution/UBC#/ | Start early, there's lots of paperwork. Save up, it's very expensive. | 10 | Lots of medicine- many hours at hospital. In Canada, there are no interns and final years fulfil the roles of interns so there's many opportunities to do procedures and consults. | English. | Increased responsibility and opportunity to do procedures. | It never stops raining in Vancouver in winter. Never. | A raincoat. Realistic expectations. Lots of motivation. Lots of money. | Yes | If you have lots of money saved up and you want to work your arse off, then this might be your elective! | Yes | $8000 | AFMC Portal $500, UBC $700, Visa medical $400, Other miscellaneous application costs $150, Flights $2200, Accommodation $1500, Weekly expenditure 4*$250. Total of $7000-8000 for the 4 weeks. Travel insurance was still free with Avant at the time I applied for it. | Yes | Study Abroad Scholarship | No | No | Yes | Whistler, British Columbia. | No | ||||||
| 2018 | Clark | Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital | China | Hangzhou | N/A | Gastroenterology and Emergency Medicine | 08/01/2018 | 02/02/2018 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | http://www.srrsh-english.com/International-Electives/elective-application.html | N/A | Simple form to fill in, may need to email [email protected] | 6 | Everyone is nice to you, but your mileage will vary if you don't speak Chinese. It can vary department to department as to who can speak English. Most of the time you can knock off early and go exploring. | Mandarin, English | Nice doctors, freedom to leave when you want. | Language difficulties. | Nothing specific for this elective. Usual travel stuff. A VPN + some google alternatives (such as baidu maps). | Yes | Email the host institution often to make sure everything is organised. | No | Flights: $800 Accom: $750 | Yes | PF Sobotka | Yes | No | Yes | Xianju, Shanghai, Tiantai | Use ctrip to book trains and hotels. You can't book buses online but as long as you are outside of Chunyun (spring festival travel period) you can generally turn up on the day and buy the ticket. | No | |||||
| 2018 | Brian | University of British Columbia | Canada | Vancouver | Vancouver General Hospital | Intensive Care | 08/01/2018 | 04/02/2018 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://www.afmcstudentportal.ca/ | - You need to apply via the AFMC Student Portal - it's a national centralised portal for Canadian electives - You get up to 5 preferences - It's expensive to apply! Just arranging the elective was $1325, and then ~$750 dollars worth of additional compulsory paperwork - Applications open 6 months prior to your start date, if you apply within a month, you should get first preference! | 9 | If you want a cruisy elective, please don't apply for any Canadian electives, you've been warned! With that said, you will gain an immense amount over a 4 week elective in Canada, and you will definitely feel a lot more prepared to be an intern! You will be treated like a junior doctor and be expected to work the same hours as the residents (~50-70 hours per week). For ICU, it's a 7am start and days finish between 4:30 and 7pm, depending on workload. Over the 4 weeks, you will also have to do 4-6 on call shifts, which mean you work the full 24 hours and go home 7am next morning (and have the rest of the day off of course!). You will be expected to manage patients, but you'll also get the chance to do advanced procedures such as arterial lines, central lines, chest tubes, lumbar punctures, bronchoscopy, intubation etc. Weekends are usually yours but some people get rostered for on-calls over the weekend, it's luck of the draw! Staff are in my opinion, much more friendly than those back home in Australia and also much more willing to teach! | English | - Procedures! Arterial lines and CVC are almost guaranteed, and are skills that even some RMOs don't get the chance to do over here. If you're lucky you'll get to do even more advanced stuff - Quality of teaching, there are so many opportunities for teaching during the day, so get around it! - Staff were super friendly and supportive - It's a challenging elective - You get to wear scrubs (10/10 comfort)! - Vancouver is a beautiful city to explore, and you can even make a trip to Whistler if you have time! - It's really easy to get around Vancouver, public transport is 10/10 | - Long hours - Sometimes you will lose your weekend to an on-call shift - It takes a while to get used to the North American names for drugs - Vancouver rains a lot - Travelling and exploring will have to be either on your weekends, or before/after the elective. It is rare to leave early during the week and no-showing to a shift will almost certainly get you a SPAN - It's expensive, flights to/from Vancouver, accommodation are not cheap | - Rain jacket and down jacket - Boots - A comfy pair of sneakers - Stethoscope - The form you need to get signed off | Yes | - $7,000 should cover all the elective, accommodation and flight costs comfortably. This will get you flights on a decent airline and a good quality AirBnB within 5-10 min walking distance from the hospital. Budget anything for food/travel/activities on top of this. - Get a place close to the hospital, the only thing you want after a 24h shift is Maccas and bed - Watch some videos on how to do an arterial line/CVC/other procedures before you go there, it's good to have an idea of how to do a procedure before you attempt it - Be vocal and ask for opportunities to do things, if you ask you'll get! - Freedom Mobile do prepaid SIM cards with data and calls, you should definitely get one before you start, since the teams all use WhatsApp to communicate - There is a gym at Vancouver General Hospital you can sign up for, so you can keep that summer bod going for when you get back to Perth - Please get a good rain jacket, down jacket and waterproof boots. It rains. A lot. | Yes | $2,000 for all the relevant fees to secure elective | $7,000 | AFMC Portal Access - $500 Elective - $525 Compulsory malpractice insurance - $300 Travel visa (just a regular travel one you don't need a working/medical visa) - $100 Compulsory medical check - $600 (this ones the most bullshit thing you have to pay for) BC medical licence - $50 Flights (Cathay Pacific) - $2200 AirBnB (Split an apartment between 2 people) - $1,500 pp STA Travel Insurance (only get this if you think you are at risk of supps, otherwise there are cheaper alternatives) - $450 Food/Activities - $2,000 | No | Yes | No | Yes | New Zealand, Sydney, Hong Kong | If you want to go to Whistler, book everything early, it fills up quick! It's also expensive, so budget generously! | No | |||||
| 2018 | Jon | Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) | Vietnam | Ho Chi Minh City | N/A | Tropical Diseases | 08/01/2018 | 02/02/2018 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | http://www.oucru.org/elective-placements/ | Apply before the deadline. You will receive the outcome of the application in early September. Best to check when Chinese New Year (Tet) occurs as it is not possible to have a placement a few days before and after. | 8 | Most of the elective placement was ward rounds and observation. The ward rounds can be really, really short so its great if you want to leave early and explore. The staff are friendly, and its a fairly relaxed environment. Most of the elective requires you to be proactive; you will be given a timetable and contacts whom you can contact to arrange ward rounds and clinical tutorials. I was lucky enough to also get a lab tutorial where we were taught about the various lab equipment the unit uses to analyse microbes. | English and Vietnamese | The relatively unstructured timetable allows you to go to whatever ward round you like. So long as you email/talk to the lead clinician its usually all good. If you make friends with the Vietnamese doctors, who all speak good English, you can also do lumbar punctures under guidance- pretty awesome! If you go near Tet, the unit also has a nice celebration which you can attend. A lot of delicious food and fun times. | Sometimes the Drs can be slow to get back to you when you want to arrange stuff. I found out there was a few other things going on but wasn't told (but found out via twitter after I got back home). | Stethoscope, lab coat is provided | Yes | Take the time to ask what sort of research is being conducted they are leaders in ID research in Vietnam and SE Asia. Also follow OUCRU on twitter so that you are up to date with whatever events are going on throughout the Unit. Also don't forget to download the Grab app- its like an Asian version of Uber which you can use to get cheap motorbike rides to hospital (~$1-2 per ride) | No | $3000 | Flights $1100 Accommodation $1100 Spending money $800 | Yes | PF Sobotka | No | No | Yes | Singapore | Ho Chi Minh is a great base to explore the south of Vietnam. The city itself takes only a few days to explore and can get a bit boring if you are staying there for a month. Try and plan trips outside- I think OUCRU wouldn't mind you exploring and taking days off (esp. Fridays). Places to go: Vung Tau, Da Lat, Da Nang and Hoi An. | No | |||||
| 2018 | Tess | New Somerset Hospital | South Africa | Cape Town | N/A | Emergency Medicine | 18/12/2017 | 12/01/2018 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | [email protected] Susan Rodriques - Foreign Elective Officer for New Somerset Hospital | N/A | Get in quick for South Africa, it's SUPER popular Apply directly through New Somerset Hospital, not through University of Cape Town (there were restrictions on international elective students when we applied, but New Somerset took us with no issues) You do NOT need a visa if you're an Australian citizen and you're staying less than 90 days (ignore the High Commission in Canberra) | 9 | Fantastic hands-on experience, given a lot of scope to do things yourself, clerk patients, order investigations and do some management Great team environment with supportive and friendly staff/seniors Exposure to unique and 'third-world' medicine i.e. stabbings/gun trauma, TB, HIV Accommodation in the nursing quarters is right next to the hospital - pretty basic but very secure, very clean and a good place to meet other students | English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu | Hands-on experience, team work in a really busy ED | Could be really chaotic at times (psychiatry patients sleeping in chairs for days, drunk patients wandering around, blood from chest drains on the floor), sometimes struggled to find a senior for support/to answer questions when it was busy, but once they knew you needed help they would come and help | Your own scrubs! I had to pinch some off the German students who were leaving | Yes | Cape Town is an amazing city to stay in, very affordable, relatively safe (just be sensible, don't walk by yourself, basic safety stuff) and beautiful surrounds i.e. Table Mountain, Cape Point National Park, beaches, great food/shopping options right near Somerset Hospital etc. etc. Easy to take a day or two off to go explore the Cape (hire a car, visit the Stellenbosch wine region) | Yes | $450(ish) | $3,500(ish) | Flights were approx $2000 return (always expensive that time of year Perth-SA) Fee for Somerset was $450 Accommodation was $15/day for 4 weeks = $420 Insurance was free through MIPS Plus food, various touristy things/entertainment/shopping in Cape Town (I also tacked on a 2-week holiday through the rest of the Cape after my elective with a fancy safari package and car hire, which took it way over $3500,) | No | Yes | No | Yes | More holidaying throughout the Western Cape region | GO ON SAFARI (check the best time of year for Krueger if you can afford to fly up that way) Visit Stellenbosch (the wine region) it is gorgeous | No | ||||
| 2018 | Rey | Work the world | Nepal | Pokhara | Manipal hospital and Gandaki Medical College | Ophthalmology and Emergency med | 07/01/2018 | 03/02/2018 | I arranged my elective through an elective agency (e.g. Work the World) | https://www.worktheworld.com.au | Work the World | What I did first was express my interest initially on a destination but not pay it immediately. The work the world staff will contact you regarding your interest and you can help you narrow down several destinations based on your budget or what you would like to do | 7 | Pokhara is a beautiful place to do your elective. Destination wise it has the best views of the Himalayan mountains with Anapurna mountain ranges visible as soon as you walk out the house! There is plenty of outdoor activities to do from mountain treks, paragliding, white water rafting etc. Or for the more reserved beautiful temples to visit.The Phewa lake is also a nice backdrop if you wanna go canoeing. The Lakeside is a common tourist destination so many foreigners are there which is pretty safe and night life is good with cheap drinks. Accommodation is provided by work the world in a large share house. With other people from across the world. Mainly from AU when I was there since it was our break. I found the friendship and companionship in the house the best part of the experience. Breakfast and dinner is provided by excellent chefs who you can request certain meals especially if your vegan or vegetarian (most people in Nepal are). There is also added 24 hour security. You do have to do your own hand washing since no wash machines but doing it on the roof top with the Himalayan view is just sweet simple stuff. Alternatively you can hire people to do your washing in the town for a cheap fee can't quote a price cause I never used. Hospital wise Manipal is a huge private teaching hospital and can get cold in the morning since it is out in the mountains and not much internal heating. The ophthalmology department is well equipped with slit lamps, however there is not much hands on opportunities apart from Schimmers test, mainly observation and opportunities to join in with teaching as well as watch cataract surgeries. It can get a bit quiet but ED is next door so they are happy for you to visit other departments. Gandaki medical college is a smaller private teaching hospital which is undergoing renovation. The emergency department is much larger than Manipal despite being a smaller hospital. There is plenty of opportunity for hands on in terms of getting signs by doing examinations, more helpful if you can give brief instructions which you get taught in language lessons. Plenty of late presentations of chronic diseases, trauma and infectious diseases such as typhoid, but much less during the winter. It can get a bit quiet and so you can visit Obstetrics department next door and watch babies get delivered which I am told is quite different. During my time they have a few festivals on so there is opportunities to join in festivals the clinics are closed on public holidays but ED is always open then. All hospitals are accessible by bus. Manipal takes about 1 hour by bus but like 15min by taxi which is more expensive. The public transport has no set time so they come sporadically. They can go on strikes which means no public transport which is apparently uncommon (it happened while I was there) if you ever get stranded the wtw house staff can be contacted by mobile and they can pick you up. | The staff at the work the world house speak English. The hospital staff and students speak english and all of the notes are written in English. Most patients however wont be able to speak english if they are older but most young people can. You are also given an opportunity to learn to speak Nepalese before and during the elective as work the world provide language lessons and youtube videos. They even have a print out page with common medical terms in nepalese and they provide you with a work book during language classes so there is plenty of opportunity to learn if you like. If you can learn a few phrases it makes it easier to make friends with the interns and junior doctors who appreciate your effort. | The companionship and friends that you make at the work the world house. There is a real sense of comradery as you go to the hospitals and is good have opportunities to debrief. Also the day trips, bar hopping and treks you do with the housemates are great and memorable! The picaresque mountain views which can't be understated. If you want to go to Nepal go to Pokhara. Kathmandu is surrounded by hills so you can't see any mountains! The wtw staff are all nice and approachable they really make it go so smoothly. The food is fantastic Nepalese cuisine but they also can cater to other cuisine if you ask. Props to Karuna who basically knows the best places to eat, shop for discounted souvenirs etc. | I hate to say it but ophthalmology was quit disappointing since it was mainly observation which can be pretty boring after a few days. Cataract surgeries which are great occur infrequently though. The smog which isn't bad in Pokhara but in Kathmandu which you have to go through first is really bad. People who are afraid of dogs might not like it so much as there are a lot of stray dogs some overly friendly, but hardly saw any aggressive dogs. Rabies vaccine would be a plus. However, there is a hospital for tourists which has HIV medications among other things. I didn't get any HIV meds since I enquired about this with the wtw staff prior to going. | The work the world staff will send you a list of items that they recommend you bring. You have to bring your own disposable face mask and gloves one box of each is enough though. Pack warm clothes; things you can layer on as it can get chilly in the morning but can be pretty hot at night. Trekking boots if you are an avid trekkers. Lab coat is worn by doctors and students. Clinical clothing underneath. Recommend to bring two pair of scrubs so you can alternate them and wash the other. Vaccinations wise I had rabies, which is super expensive but it's for life. I brought azithromycin antibiotics. No need for Malaria meds since it is too high up. | Yes | Don't wear Kathmandu brand gear it's how they can distinguish who is a tourist and who is a local. Be prepared to haggle for goods cause locals will bring the price up if they think your a tourist. Consider what you want out of your placement if you want hands on experience perhaps choose surgery or obstetrics as these are more catered towards that. When you take a taxi in Kathmandu get a prepaid taxi. You do not need to tip them even if they ask you to. This never happened in Pokhara but found it happens a lot in Kathmandu. To prevent yourself from getting food poisoning stick to vegetarian food options. Go for 5 weeks if you want the added village experience since you need a minimum of 2 weeks per department and the village placement only lasts 1 week. Those who did it enjoyed it for the local experience more so than the medicine. | Yes | The full price which was about 3.8K without airflights. You can fundraise it or just put it on HECs | $5000 I spent a week in Kathmandu prior to starting (do not recommend doing that) | No | No | Yes | Japan | You can do a mountain trek on Poon hill which at shortest is 3-4 days or longer. There are a few good tourist sites and activities. The peace pagoda is good to visit on a clear day you can have a beautiful view of Pokhara, Phewa lake and Anapurna mountain range. Australian base camp has good mountain views. Sarangkot has nice mountain views during sunset and sunrise, it also has paragliding. WtW staff has can organize and recommend some local tourist activities such as whitewater rafting and safaris. Lakeside is the tourist hub of Pokhara has some pretty decent bars and cafes, OR2K is pretty good. There is also a nice outdoor cinema which screens every night which is was really nice! | No | ||||||
| 2019 | Marissa Loh | University College London | United Kingdom | London | Whittington Hospital | Obstetrics & Gynaecology | 07/01/2019 | 01/02/2019 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://www.ucl.ac.uk/medical-school/study/undergraduate/visiting-student-electives | Very straightforward process - just be online as soon as applications open (date and time will be provided in the link, usually late Feb/early March for the year after) and fill in your details (name/passport number/university etc). | 10 | Obs & Gynae is an incredibly diverse specialty - both medical and surgical with radiology also. Throughout the month I was able to clerk patients at obstetrics triage and the Early Pregnancy Diagnostic Unit, observe ultrasonography, attend gynae clinics and observe & assist in gynae surgeries, elective & emergency C-sections and deliveries on the Labour Ward and Birth Centre. Additionally, we participated in teaching ward rounds on the antenatal and postnatal wards (where we examined each patient and had to present to the consultant), and attended obstetric medicine/high risk obstetric, gynae onc and fetal medicine clinics, as well as antenatal clinics (where we were allowed to see our own patients). We also attended tutorials for UCL students. It was an incredible month! | English | Excellent learning environment - everyone (doctors, midwives, nurses, sonographers) was so friendly and really wanted us to get the most out of the month. UCL students also received amazing teaching (consultant tutorials every day in small groups) which we were welcome to attend (not to mention they were very high yield). Observed and participated in a wide range of clinics and ward rounds - greater breadth compared to what I saw here in Perth, and the highlight was being able to see women in antenatal clinic, then obstetrics triage, and finally seeing them deliver and meeting their babies in the postnatal ward after - true continuity of care. | Long hours - day #1 I was there until 11pm, most days I left around 6pm! It's completely your choice of course, but as an elective student they find plenty of things for you to get involved in and there was an (unspoken) expectation we'd be there every day. Sometimes the elective felt a bit unstructured (UCL students had a strict timetable of which wards/clinics to go to), but this also meant we had more flexibility. | Warm clothing, otherwise usual clinical items - stethoscope, pens, notebook | Yes | London is an incredible place to live for a month (and a Europe trip is very easy to do either side of your elective, or weekend trips are even easier)! I stayed near the hospital in an Airbnb which was really useful. Make the most of everything, get involved, and have some time to explore the city also - you'll love it 🙂 | Yes | 800 pounds | Approx $5000 (plus money on food, transport, musicals + extra for travelling around Europe) | No | No | No | Yes | Budapest, Milan, Frankfurt, Cambridge, Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin | Anywhere within Europe is so easy to get to via train/plane! | No | ||||||
| 2019 | Mudra Shah | Royal Manchester Children's Hospital | England | Manchester | NA | Respiratory Paediatrics | 07/01/2019 | 01/02/2019 | I arranged my elective with a Clinician that I contacted or knew | 10 | Application was done directly to the consultant, emails can be found on the hospital website. That is the same with most NHS hospitals. This hospital is pretty keen to have students! We had 4 weeks there (4 students applied, in diff departments at the hospital.) On respiratory, we got to see cystic fibrosis, general resp patients (not bronchiolitis), long term ventilation and ICU. You also attended clinics were you got to see PCD, TB, Asthma and CF annual reviews. Furthermore, I was involved with data analysis for a research project= bonus. Would 100% recommend. | English! (+bogun Manchester accent) | The welcoming nature of all the consultants and the exposure to such a vast variety of conditions. | Nothing! | Clinical clothes, warm jumpers (dont need them in hosp), steth, happiness? | Yes | Apply early so you can get a letter of confirmation soon and call them if need be. Their application process doesn't start till Oct (super late for us) but if you hound them enough, they can get you a conditional letter of approval which is all you need. You will also need 2 references for the placement. Another bonus, you only need a visitor visa for this- which you can get on arrival in the UK. | No | Flights $1800 (we travelled around Europe as well), Accomodation $1500 each, no fees. Insurance- BOQ travel insurance, free if you purchase your plane ticket with their card! Covers supps. | As above. | Yes | Study Abroad Scholarship | Yes | No | Yes | Europe 🙂 | Europe, London, Bristol, Lake District, Edinburgh, Ireland | No | |||||||
| 2019 | Jordan Korol | Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna | Sri Lanka | Galle | Karapitiya Teaching Hospital | Paediatrics/General Surgery | 10/12/2018 | 05/01/2019 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | http://www.medi.ruh.ac.lk/index.php/elective-program-home | On their website is an application form for you to fill out for elective, as well as all the specialties offered and any elective information. The website commonly doesn't seem to work in Australia so try different browsers/days/etc until you get on to it. Harish Pathirana was the contact at [email protected] if you have any issues. Don't be concerned if it takes up to a month for them to reply- that seems to be very common for many elective places. They will give you all the information on payment and visas, however it can get a bit complex so feel free to get in touch for any questions | 8 | Galle is a great place if you want a cheap and relaxing elective. The hospital is so used to having numerous elective students at a time that they are happy to let you do as you please and still sign you off. For a third world country the facilities are quite reasonable and you'll always feel safe, however there are still many practices that will shock you compared to Australian hospitals. The doctors are brilliant and really make an effort to do lots of teaching on ward rounds. | All teaching is done in English. You will need the local students to assist in speaking to patients as most don't speak English | Sri Lanka is an incredible place to travel. Super cheap and just starting to become a tourist destination. Galle is on the coast with great surfing and lots of amazing places nearby to travel to. | It is very hard to get involved due to the number of local students (up to 30 students will be on a single ward round). Speaking to and examining patients can be quite difficult due to the language barrier. | Full clinical clothing. All students have to wear a white lab coat over the top Hand sanitiser as hygiene practices aren't flash It is incredibly humid all the time so bring lots of cool clothes | Yes | General Surgery was a great placement to experience the differences in medical practices between Australia and less developed countries. Had heaps of autonomy to wander between theatres and get involved if you wanted. The Consultant in charge of elective students is very friendly and tries to help you as much as possible. He gives you this full timetable for every day but only go on his rostered trauma day and the other couple of days he is in hospital if you want to relax/travel. You are meant to get a log book signed every day but he just signs it all off at the end. We usually spent 3-4hrs on 3-4 days/week there. Paediatrics was a bit less involved. Rock up for ward rounds in the morning, join with a doctor and then get signed off after the round and go chill for the day. There are heaps of local students on the ward if you want to stay and examine patients with them. 2 options for accommodation: - Stay near the hospital. Can highly recommend Sunnyside Homestay. Beautiful family who have a large area of land 5min from hospital with a separate apartment next to the house you can stay in. They will drive you to the hospital each morning and give you lots of tips on the city, travel, etc. - Unuwatuna. Small town situated on the beach about 20min from the hospital and Galle centre. Is where most tourists stay with great beaches, bars and restaurants. Particularly good if you don't want to spend much time at the hospital and more at the beach. | Yes | 200USD (about $300) | $1500 | Elective Fees: $300 Flights: $900 return Accom: Very cheap. We paid $300 each for a month Insurance: Free with MIPS | No | Yes | No | Yes | Went to Vietnam and Cambodia after. Is a 3.5hr flight from Colombo to Kuala Lumpar and then can access all of SE Asia. | Within Sri Lanka we travelled each weekend. Hikkaduwa, Mirissa, Matara, Weligama are all coastal towns within an hour of Galle that are beautiful. Have to spend a weekend in Ella- about 5-6hrs inland. Plenty of other places to travel before and after your elective if you want (Sigiriya, Kandy, etc) | No | |||||
| 2019 | Jacalin Huynh | National Institutes of Health | United States | Bethesda | N/A | Neurosurgery | 07/01/2019 | 01/02/2019 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://www.cc.nih.gov/training/students/clinical_electives.html | N/A | There is an online application form that will require a cover letter, recommendation letter and a letter of approval from your home university. The recommendation letter must be from a person who is part of the medical faculty and has seen you both academically and clinically (so you can consider your GP preceptor, I asked my tutor from the GP rotation), so it's best to get this organised early as they may need some time to write it up for you. Otherwise, this is a relatively straigtforward application. | 9 | At the NIH, you're expected to fulfil the role of an intern. So each morning, you're expected to arrive before the senior trainee registrar to print the patient list and catch up on all updates and discuss a plan with the registrar when they arrive. In clinic, you're encouraged to see patients on your own, and in theatre, you're encouraged to scrub in and assist on every case. The NIH receives rare and challenging cases from all over the world, and it is truly a blessing to be part of each case. | English | The most enjoyable aspect of this elective is the opportunity to see the transformation of patients from being confused and drowsy to alert and communicating well after surgery. In addition, active participation in each surgical case allowed me to develop surgical skills such as cutting, suturing and assisting in theatre. It's such an active role compared to the role of a medical student in Perth, that it pushes you to use your initiative, and think for patients. | The hours were the least enjoyable aspect of this elective. I had to wake up at 4:30am each morning to arrive at the office at 5:30am, and I would leave around 6 or 7pm in the evening on the weekdays. You are also expected to go in on the Saturday til 12pm. So this meant very little time travelling besides the weekend if you've got the energy and I fell asleep standing in theatre sometimes. All the neurosurgeons were males, and at times, it was a bit intimidating. You definitely get quizzed in theatre, and they expect you to practice skills such as surgical ties to assist in theatre. In addition, the security at this institution is very strict, so without a badge (which can take 2 weeks to process), you needed to go through a security checkpoint with your passport every morning. | White lab coat | Yes | If you're interested in any specialty, this place contains some of the most well known doctors in any specialty, and it would be worthwhile to ask for a recommendation letter for future reference at the completion of your rotation at the NIH. | No | N/A | $5000 | No | Yes | No | Yes | New York | It's a 4 hour bus ride to New York, and the transport is not expensive at all! Otherwise, there's plenty to see nearby; including the White House, National museum of american history and lots of restaurants to eat at (just be aware of the tipping culture there!) | No | |||||
| 2019 | Charlie Lefroy | University of Toronto | Canada | Toronto | St Michaels | Neurosurgery/Neuro-opthalmology | 14/01/2019 | 08/02/2019 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | http://afmcstudentportal.ca | AFMC | Long application process. Make sure you know all the steps you have to do well in advance of applying. | 9 | Neurosurgery in Toronto was a great learning experience. You get a lot of hands on experience (writing notes, clerking patients and scrubbing in theatre). They start early in the morning (5:30am-6am) and usually leave at about 6-7pm. Although this is how long they worked each day, they never said that your attendance had to be 100% and you could leave early if you wanted to. You were welcomed to come in on call and on the weekends, although you were never allocated these shifts. The morning usually started with a ward round for an hour followed by theatres for the rest of the day. Two theatres ran with one usually focusing on brain cases with the other on spinal. Spinal surgeries were often difficult to see and limited room around the table, so I didn't scrub in that often. The brain cases were easier to see and gave you more opportunity to do something. Clinic also ran concurrently and you essentially were another doctor. You saw your own patients, reviewed the CT/MRI scans and then presented to the attending and dictated the notes. I also spent a lot of time in the neuro-opthal clinic that all throughout the week. The attending was very keen on teaching and I did a lot in the clinic. You also were called up to the wards to review cases. All of the doctors at the hospital were very nice. They have a very different view of medical students in Canada as compared to Australia. You are involved a lot more in the team and given more independence. | English | Independence, hands on surgical skills | ?Long hours | Positive attitude | Yes | Greater independence and confidence | Canada is a great elective if you want to challenge yourself and learn a lot. Be organised in the application process. | Yes | ~1.5K | ~7-8K | Yes | PF Sobotka | No | No | Yes | Canada anad America | Canada is surprisingly cold in the middle of winter. A warm jumper, jeans and shoes would be recommended. | No | |||
| 2019 | Carl | Manipal Teaching Hospital | Nepal | Pokhara | Manipal Teaching Hospital | General Med, ED, Peads, Orthopaedics, ITU | 28/01/2019 | 13/03/2019 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://www.manipal.edu.np/mcoms/admission/elective-program.html | None | Just email, they're keen to get elective students in as it helps them raise funds | 1 | A friend and I arranged to spend our entire 6 week placement at Manipal having read outstanding reviews from students who had previously spent their elective at this hospital. Sadly our experience was a far cry from the experience reported on websites such as TEN. On our first day we met with Drs Sharma and Duttagupta who were responsible for arranging elective placements. After a bit of a chat they directed us to the cashier who would take our placement fee and then had a porter take us to our departments. We had no further contact with them or their department during our stay. We were attached to a Gen Med ward. I had previously been told that I could be attached to a tropical diseases department but on arrival I was told that, being at altitude there was, as you might expect, no tropical medicine department. On the ward we were introduced to a fairly surly registrar who showed us around the ward and never spoke to us again. The ward itself consisted of roughly 5-6 bays with 6-8 beds in each. One thing I will say in their favour, they have an absolute surplus of staff on each ward, with General Medicine having no less than 8 nurses and 5 junior doctors present at any one time. Sadly, these staff members are an underutilised resource and they seem to spend most of their days sitting around waiting for a consultant to grace them with their presence. Sometime between 8am and 10am a consultant will sail into the ward and, without speaking, his team will fall in behind him as he does his rounds. These rounds last roughly 10 minutes as they rarely waste time on such things as speaking to the patients or their junior doctors. They then leave as quickly as they arrived and are not seen again until the following day – sometimes they go to outpatient clinics, more often than not they just seem to leave the hospital for the day. It is then the job of the juniors to decipher the instructions written in English in the patients’ notes in order to figure out what the consultant wanted them to do – and woe betide them if these orders are not carried out! As while the consultants will not talk to their juniors, they will certainly shout them down in Nepali-English in the middle of the ward round if an arbitrary investigation has not been carried out. At any rate, once the consultant leaves the ward he is not seen again until the following day and in their absence nothing else seems to happen on the wards – partly due to the fact that patients have to pay for their own investigations and therefore tests are ordered sparingly. As a result we were generally encouraged to leave once the rounds were complete, which meant we were usually back in Lakeside having a beer by lunchtime. Naturally, we tried to engage with staff and offered to take part in clinical activities on the wards but genuinely there was nothing happening once the ward round had ended and even the local juniors used this time as an opportunity to take naps. A quick note on language – the rounds are naturally carried out in Nepali as few of the locals are bilingual and almost all of the nurses, registrars and consultants are Nepali. The juniors, however, having trained at the attached, Indian-run medical school, are invariably Indian or Sri Lankan, and speak virtually no Nepali. Shockingly this means that in the absence there is no way for anyone to communicate with the patients To change things up we attended several other departments during our stay – paediatrics, orthopaedics, ITU, ED and even sat in on some neurosurgery (they are used to having elective students and nobody seemed to mind us wandering into their departments and joining their teams). Our experience in each of these departments was exactly the same; short ward rounds with nothing much going on afterwards, with the exception of ED. In ED at least, there was a steady flow of patients to see and if you were fortunate enough to attach to one of the more confident junior doctors you could assist in clerking and performing clinical tasks. Sadly, as there were in excess of 25 other elective students at the hospital at any one time (most of them Australian students travelling with ‘Work the World’) once it became clear that ED was the place to be space for us in the department became somewhat of a commodity. Ultimately I probably spent no more than 3 days in ED during my 6 weeks. On week three of our placement, two of our friends from med school arrived to join us at Manipal having spent three highly satisfying and educational weeks in India. They spent a day at Manipal and immediately made arrangements to leave and go back to India such was their disappointment at both the complete lack of anything to do and the lack of engagement from anyone in their departments. In conclusion, if you want a low-effort elective where you can get your logbook/attendance log signed-off on arrival so that you can go on a jolly around Nepal for a few weeks, Manipal is a perfect choice. However, if you were hoping to learn ANYTHING about medicine, take part in research, or improve your clinical skills, Manipal should be avoided like the plague! | English, Nepali, Hindi | Hanging out at Lakeside | The sheer lack of engagement from senior clinical staff e.g. Watching a Consultant try to treat a DKA with Amoxicillin, despite my protestations that fluid and insulin would probably work better. | Hiking boots - get signed-off quickly and go travelling around this beautiful country instead | No | If you want a low-effort elective where you can get your logbook/attendance log signed-off on arrival so that you can go on a jolly around Nepal for a few weeks, Manipal is a perfect choice. However, if you were hoping to learn ANYTHING about medicine, take part in research, or improve your clinical skills, Manipal should be avoided like the plague! | Yes | $200 for 4 weeks, $100 for two additional weeks | £800 | Yes | No | No | |||||||||
| 2020 | Lauren Masi | Mundo Verde Electives Peru | Peru | Cusco | Hospital EsSalud | Internal Medicine/GP | 07/12/2019 | 03/01/2020 | I arranged my elective through an elective agency (e.g. Work the World) | https://www.electiveplacements.com/ | Mundo Verde | Apply early through their website as they are notoriously slow to reply to emails. We worked out later in the year that the best way to reach them was through WhatsApp | 10 | It was VERY light on the clinical exposure so if you are after a heavy medical elective where you actually learn lots of stuff, chose something else. Our 4 week program was arranged and we had 2 scheduled weeks of clinics with the rest of the time allocted to spanish lessons, cultural experiences (e.g cooking classes, homestays, salsa classes) and some sightseeing in Cusco (Machu Pichu 5 day trek, Southern/Sacred Valley tours). The medical elective part was interesting although more GP than the internal medicine promised. It was Int Med outpatients and all 4 of us were with the same doctor in the same room at the same time. Given our lack of spanish we observed histories, were given an english synopsis by the doctors and then took turns examining the patient, posing a diagnosis and management. There was no exposure to clinical procedures. It was still really interesting to see how a medical practice runs in a low income and poorly resourced setting and the medicine itself was interesting. We also spent 3 days (2 clinical days due to the weekend) in Huyro a small rural village 4 hours from Cusco. This for me was the highlight of the trip and the best exposure we had to medicine and some really interesting pathology. No-one spoke English so there was a lot of Spanglish happening!!! A chance here to see the different multidisciplinary aspects of rural health and we rotated between sitting with the GP, child-health nurse, pathologist, psychologist. There was also the chance to do some procedural stuff e.g SC/IM injections, cannulations etc | Spanish, one doctor spoke good english and translated | Living in Cusco - it was a great city!! | None | Very casual clin clothes (black jeans etc), stethoscope, medical spanish phrase book | Yes | Any questions chuck me a message | Yes | $2800 USD ($3300 AUD in Dec 2019) - Included elective placement, accommodation, tours (5 day Machu Pichu Trek, Cooking Class, Salsa lessons etc) | $7500 | Yes | Study Abroad Scholarship, PF Sobotka | Yes | No | Yes | Bolivia, Argentina, Chile | No | |||||
| 2020 | Cohen Goh | St Luke International Hospital | Japan | Tokyo | n/a | General med, Dermatology, Radiology, CV surgery | 06/01/2020 | 31/01/2020 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | http://hospital.luke.ac.jp/eng/education-and-training/international-medical-student-elective/index.html | Everything is very organised, just follow the instructions on the website | 9 | Superb. Everyone is friendly, polite, humble and look after you very well. You never have to worry of feeling left out, or nobody cares about you. Even the consultant is very humble and nice. We always had lunch together in the cafeteria and chat and joke. The cafeteria has super cheap food with quality better than in Perth. I got super lucky as the consultant from my team brought me out for a day trip in Shibuya and Tokyo tower. She is in General Med and she is very kind. She can also speaks good english. GIM has quite a few doctors with good english (Not every doctor can speak english well). The hours can be quite long, I finish at around 5-6pm most days, with the earliest 4pm, unless you're in surgery where they are really busy. | The doctors have limited English but they try | The relationship I built with the other doctors - because They are mostly quite young and fun to hang out with. Very friendly and some will teach you a lot. They will also talk to you and get to you and if you're lucky they bring you out for dinner 🙂 If you enjoy the language, the culture, the food, this is a great place. | the hours. During dermatology, I had to stay back till 5 and sometimes 7pm. They kinda expect us to. The team is very nice but with limited english, it can feel like a lot of waiting sometimes, because you are waiting for them to translate to you. I only know a bit of japanese So throughout the whole consultation i was clueless until the doctor explained to me. But I dont really mind the long hours as you get used to it after a while. you dont really have much to study anyway (unless you want to), so you can get home and shower and sleep (choose a nearby location!) | stethoscope. and for guys, a tie and a labcoat is necessary. I recommend thin shirts too, because the hospital is really warm. | Yes | Japanese language always comes in handy whenever you travel to Japan. but especially so if you are working with japanese. even knowing a few words for the patient history such as 'pain', 'diarrhoea', 'fever' in japanese can be so helpful for you to figure out what the patient has. The doctor does not always explain everything to you, and they have very limited amount of english. So it is good if you can understand a few vocabs. Given the long hours, I managed to do some self studies. Use the time wisely in the hospital instead of waiting around. You can learn some of the japanese words, read about the condition or even just manga during your free time. Live somewhere closeby , like in Tsukiji it will make your life a lot easier. Food is widely available, and they are all walking distance. Business hotel is a good choice if you are staying a month here. Hostel and capsule hotels can be very noisy at times and disturb your very important sleep. Good luck! | No | 4000 | On average: 1500 for flight 2500 for hotel (business hotel - best option i reckon) elective - free insurance - UWA provides food - very cheap, you're looking at like $5-6 a meal in the hospital | No | Yes | No | Yes | Visit the entire Tokyo! Some of the best places: Shibuya Shinjuku Asakusa Akihabara Ueno (museumsss) Mt Fuji if you are staying for extra 4-5 days, go to Kyoto and Osaka | Try all the japanese food, Sushi zanmai, ramen, wagyu beef, gyudon, katsudon, soba, udon any shops do way better food than in perth, but if you are picky - go to Tabelog.com the critiques are really hard - any restaurant with more than 3.5 stars are considered worth trying. try their onsen, try their arcade, try everything try staying in the capsule hotel for one day if you are staying in hotel | No | ||||||
| 2020 | Jenna Beeton | Work the World | Philippines | Iloilo | Western Visayas Medical Centre | Internal medicine & Paeds | 30/12/2019 | 25/01/2020 | I arranged my elective through an elective agency (e.g. Work the World) | https://www.worktheworld.com.au/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlLCnyInp5wIVBSQrCh0Y3wp3EAAYASAAEgIYvfD_BwE | Work the World | 1 | Very disappointing elective. It was very difficult to get involved with the teams and I was unable to do anything hands on at all. Most of the day was spent by myself reading patient files and trying to then find the patient and consent them for an examination (much harder than it sounds in the Philippines!) | Mostly local language with patients although most of the doctors and many of the patients are able to speak some English | I enjoyed the accommodation and food that was provided | The clinical placements. It felt as though the teams did not want us there. Teaching was incredibly limited. Overall felt like a waste of time. | Lab coat Steth N95 masks Masks & gloves as may not be provided | No | Don't go through Work the World! If you want hands on experience, consider completing your elective in rural WA as I definitely got much more from it than this elective. | Yes | $7000 | Yes | Study Abroad Scholarship | Yes | No | No | |||||||||
| 2023 | Eva | PCH | Australia | Perth | N/A | General Paediatrics | 16/01/2023 | 27/01/2023 | I arranged my elective with a Clinician that I contacted or knew | 9 | Everyone was extremely welcoming and nice. It was good to further my Paeds learning at a time with fewer students in the hospital. | English | Getting to know the team at PCH. | The application process (even though I only did a local elective, it was tedious trying to liaise with UWA) | Enthusiasm! | Yes | Do an elective even if it’s not compulsory | No | Nil | No | No | No | No | No | |||||||||||
| 2023 | Annas alsharea | Frankston hospital | Australia | Melbourne | Frankston Hospital | Vascular surgery | 01/12/2022 | 06/01/2023 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | Peninsula health website | 10 | The team I was assigned to was very accommodating. The administration staff at peninsula health were very helpful in organising the placement. Given it is not a major tertiary hospital you get a lot more exposure and opportunities to interact with patients/staff | Enlgish | Involvement in the surgeries | Distance from the city | . | Yes | Start applying early and it doesn't have to be at the big hospitals if you're after experience. However if the hospital is too small you may not come across a decent variety of cases. | Yes | 200$ | $1000 | No | No | No | No | No | |||||||||
| 2023 | Jerry | Monash Medical Centre | Australia | Melbourne/Clayton | N/A | Immunology and Allergy | 05/12/2022 | 16/01/2023 | I arranged my elective with a Clinician that I contacted or knew | 8 | A lot of shadowing through different clinic and lab experiences, with not a lot of in-patient medicine. Enjoyable learning allergies, and autoimmune conditions (even though they are not core conditions). Clinicians are very friendly and eager to teach. A great experience if you enjoy the content! | English | The coolest experience for me was the Venom clinics, as Monash is one of few centres in Australia doing insect (such as Jumper Jack Ant) immunotherapies in Australia. You get to immunotherapies and sometimes even Jumper Jack Ant challenges where they get live ants to sting patients :). | Mostly passive learning experience, not a lot of procedural/hands-on. Also parking is a challenge. | Usual travel stuff, and clinical clothes + stethoscope. | Yes | If you're interested in Allergy/Immunology/Rheumatology/Sleep medicine, then this rotation has lots to offer! Parking is expensive at monash so you may need to take the train to Clayton station or park a few a blocks away. | Yes | 400 | 1000 | Flights + Elective Fee only (as I have family in melbourne) | No | No | No | No | ||||||||||
| 2023 | Abby Shreeve | University Medical Centre | Vietnam | Ho Chi Minh City | N/A | ED | 05/12/2022 | 16/12/2022 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://ump.edu.vn/hop-tac-quoc-te/elective-training-program/elective-courses-for-international-students/449 | N/A | Super easy, just fill out the form and they were pretty good at answering quickly. Include a student CV detailing the prac you have completed in Australia and any qualifications you have (previous electives, your bachelor degree etc.). It wasn't a rigorous process for us, so if you apply you will most likely be accepted! 🙂 | 7 | Overall, it was a great experience and I would highly recommend. All the staff looking after us were extremely nice, welcoming and interested in learning from us, as well as teaching. The scope of disease we saw was very interesting too - partly similar to Australia (T2DM, COPD, resp failure) but with very late presentations and therefore in very serious condition from the get go. Some parts were different (drug-induced Cushing's is everywhere!), and I feel like it was a good mix of familiarity (so you aren't too far out of your depth) and exposure to new concepts, diseases, treatments etc. The main language spoken is Vietnamese. All patients speak Vietnamese, and most healthcare staff. We were not really able to communicate with patients without the doctors' assistance (due to language barrier, and also patient privacy I think). All the doctors were able to speak to us and teach us in English though! Would definitely be a bonus if you can speak Vietnamese. We spent a lot of time on the computer, using their hospital system and google translating the text. It worked quite well, but it did get boring only being able to do that and not much practical stuff due to always needing to be chaperoned by a doctor + language barrier. We did get to do some simple procedures like ABGs and cannulas. We were there from 8am Monday to Friday and most days we left at lunch! Depending on the doctor, they would send you home at lunch or you could ask to leave and they wouldn't care. I think a morning is more than enough when there is the difficulty of communication and not much to do. If you can speak the language, you may be able to do more stuff. Also, having the afternoon off means we got to explore the city! We were expected to do a small case presentation on our last day. It was very chill, since we found it difficult to navigate the system and find all the info, they didn't care that some information was missing. They were most interested in the differences in our healthcare systems and ways of treatment. The ED itself was separated into 3 main areas (serious, moderate, mildly serious) - we spent most of the time in the serious section. There were probably 50 permanent beds plus 50 more overflow/temporary beds. They are all packed in together with almost no privacy between patients (they don't seem to care). Curtains are never pulled around the beds. It's sometimes hard to tell which patient is hooked up to which obs monitor, they are so sardined in there! Would recommend maybe trying to do some time in another department like tropical diseases. UMC has many affiliated hospitals, so it would be easy to go to the different ones specifically for TB for example and get some experience there. | Vietnamese, English | - Learning to do ABGs - Seeing some serious procedures done in ED (intubation, arterial line insertion, femoral lines etc.) all the while people are bustling past doing their own things! - Got to listen to/see a heap of very obvious signs i.e. murmurs, COPD, resp failure, jaundice from liver failure, Cushing's, acromegaly etc. - Doctors and staff were very nice! (Took us out to lunch for our last day!) - Leaving at lunch ofc! And just how chill everyone was, you can really set your own hours if you wanted! - Exploring HCMC ofc! Make the most of your time in Vietnam and explore!! | - Language barrier made it hard to do as much as we would've liked (try learn some before you go!) - Google translate got pretty boring/tedious after a few hours of it each day! | Need a lab coat and stethoscope. | Yes | N/A | Just go in with confidence and an open mind for learning! Say YES to everything, even if you're nervous - you'll most likely never see these people again! Use that to your advantage and give everything a go! The time goes quick, so take advantage of every opportunity! Have fun and explore HCMC and surrounds! Would recommend having some spare time before/after for Vietnam travel of course 🙂 | Yes | ~$300 AUD each (expensive! And they did increase the price on us!) for 2 weeks | $2325 ish | For one person: - Fees $300 - Flights $1500 - Accom $375 - Insurance $150 | Yes | Study Abroad Scholarship, PF Sobotka | Yes | No | No | Plan ahead! It's much cheaper! Go tour the Cu Chi Tunnels, Mekong River and floating market if you can while in HCMC (you can find tours with these all together!). We were meant to keep travelling after but had to come home due to medical issues so DON'T skimp on insurance! You never know when you will need it! Some places we planned on visiting to give you an idea/starting point: - Da Lat - Na Trang - Da Nang (giant golden bridge) - Hue - Phong Nha (world's largest caves! hiking, exploring) - Hanoi - Ha Long Bay (river cruises, kayaking, snorkelling) - Sapa (highly recommended to us, beautiful apparently!) | No | |||
| 2023 | Sasha John | KAMS | WA | Balgo | Balgo clinic | Remote GP | 06/12/2022 | 06/01/2023 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://kams.org.au/ [email protected] | I sent an email outlining who I was and why I'd like to experience remote medicine/ Aboriginal health | 10 | Went to clinic from 0800 to around 1700 each day + on call when I wanted to. Weekly trips to neighbouring towns Mulan and Bililuna. Some time spent with GP/ remote area nurses/ midwives but had my own room to see patients independently by the end. Really amazing experience- I feel like I learnt a lot both clinically and culturally. Also super confronting- there's a lot of violence in Balgo and definitely not a cruisey elective. However, the team was very inclusive and supportive. | English, Kukatja and other dialects (almost everyone spoke decent English) | Exposure to cultural activities Clinical experience Beautiful landscapes Making friends with clinic staff + community | Did not always feel safe Donga broken into Limited food selection at the store + limited fresh food Travel plans on return were disrupted due to wet season | Food if you have any dietaries Bathers for the community pool/ waterfall A few polo's and shorts/ jeans to wear to prac | Yes | This is a pretty full-on, but super rewarding experience. Accommodation is basic and there's not a heap to do outside of prac, so you'd have to be comfortable living alone and having quite a lot of time to yourself. | No | Only major cost was flights to Broome and back | No | No | No | Yes | Broome | No | ||||||||
| 2023 | Shelley Goff | University of medicine and pharmacy Ho chi minh | Vietnam | Ho Chi Minh City | University of medicine and pharmacy medical center | cardiology | 02/01/2023 | 19/01/2023 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://admin.ump.edu.vn/uploads/ckeditor/files/Truong/HopTacQuocTe/Elective%20Program/HTQT_ElectiveProgram_UMP%20Guidelines%20of%20Elective%20Training%20Program.pdf | follow the guidelines on the form, submit a cover letter and resume to the international relations office | 8 | We attended the wards in the morning and followed a consultant. Some days we would do ward rounds, other days we would watch and interpret Echocardiograms, attend interventional cardiology procedures, and special tests such as the tilt test. | Vietnamese, English | Teaching sessions with doctors, exploring a foreign city. | limitations in patient interactions due to language barriers | Lab coat, stethoscope, clinical attire | Yes | Download and become comfortable with using Google translate. Organise accommodation relatively close to the hospital as there is a lot of traffic. Vietnam is a beautiful, fun, and affordable country so set aside time on the weekends or before and after elective to explore different regions. | Yes | $600 AUD for 3 weeks internship (no application fee) | $5000 ish | Yes | PF Sobotka | Yes | No | Yes | North Vietnam, Phu Quoc Island | No | [email protected] | |||||
| 2023 | Jun-Ting Yeung | University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong SAR | Hong Kong | Queen Mary Hospital | Orthopaedics & Traumatology | 02/01/2023 | 20/01/2023 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://www.med.hku.hk/en/Teaching-and-Learning/Elective-Attachment | - Make sure you have all the necessary documents: i. Copy of Medical Malpractice Insurance policy ii. Copy of the policy schedule or policy summary of a Health/Medical Insurance (this should be the one from your Uni) - Regarding i) -> Get in touch with your indemnity organisation to prepare the professional indemnity insurance policy for you when you go overseas for elective. MDA National was the easiest to contact for this. In your email, include your member number ([email protected]). - Prepare a cheque to mail to Hong Kong to pay for your application fee (who even uses a cheque anymore?) - Have enough time to ensure application is processed, as the Hong Kong Hospital Authority has to officially approve of your placement | 7 | Essentially I was put into a rotation group with the final year medical students at HKU, to attend their lectures, bedside teaching, and theatre time. - Eye opening to see the cultural differences in the provision of medical care. - Medical students are the same everywhere. We procrastinate, complain, learn the same way. - Medical knowledge and environment is similar. | English (Primary medium of teaching), Cantonese (with patients) | - Socialising with fellow medical students in Hong Kong. - Bedside and clinic teaching with the professors. | - Minimal exposure to ward rounds. - Minimal procedural skills exposure. | White coat | Yes | I do wonder if you get more to do procedural skills if you followed/contacted a doctor directly in HK because by going through HKU, you go through the official uni pathway. | - Know some Cantonese otherwise you won't be able to make full use of your time there. - Know your special tests for physical examinations since they put emphasis on it. - Be aware that there is a stronger emphasis on hierarchy. | Yes | AUD140 | AUD2500 | Elective Application Fees: AUD140 Flights: AUD2360 (December 2022 - January 2023. Post-COVID fees) Accommodation: N/A (Stayed with family) Insurance: N/A (Provided by UWA) | Yes | PF Sobotka | Yes | No | Bank of Queensland Specialist (BOQS) | No | - Macau (Day trip) - Hong Kong is a great stepping stone to other countries in Asia (Japan, Korea, SE Asia) | No | [email protected] | ||
| 2023 | Mitchell Pratt | University of Witwatersrand | South Africa | Johannesburg | Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital | Trauma Medicine/Surgery | 12/12/2022 | 06/01/2023 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://www.wits.ac.za/health/faculty-services/elective/ | https://www.swanage.co.za/student-lifestyle/ | Email Alan Peter, his email address can be found at "Swanage Medical Elective Accommodation". He is an unreal doctor with the most interesting life story. He'll look after you whilst on placement and will Fastrack your application. | 10 | Worked at Bara' in Johannesburg. I learnt loads of useful prcoedural skills and left feeling much more comfortable operating in a hospital environment | English, Zulu, Tsotho etc | If you're interested in improving procedural skills, learning how to be resourceful in a resource poor setting, enjoy operating with a degree of autonomy in ED and are looking for exposure for caring for critically ill patients. This elective is for you. | The size of the hospital. It took me at least a week to comfortably get my bearings. Though after a week you can navigate the place comfortably | An eager and enthusiastic attitude | Yes | South Africa, and Johannessburg in particular, has a worldwide reputation for being a dangerous place. This is true, but never once did I find my self in a situation where i felt unsafe. I still went for morning/afternoon jogs without a worry. What I also found surprising were the sheer number of international students that FLOCK to Bara'. There are plenty of friends to be made, so if you're planning on going alone don't let solitude deter you. Not mention, Alan Peter (the host doctor atSwanage) drove me to and from placement, he takes students on safari and will make you feel totally at home. | Yes | <1000AUD or so for 4 weeks accommodation and 4 weeks tuition | ~5000AUD. Though my flights were sorted late and acounted for 3000AUD | Yes | PF Sobotka | No | No | Yes | Western Cape in South Africa | South Africa is a beautiful country with an amazing landscape. If you enjoy the outdoors there's plenty of places to hike. Happy to be contacted for any travel tips | No | [email protected] | |||
| 2023 | Akanksha Das | Newcastle University | UK | Newcastle | Royal Victoria Infirmary/Freeman Hospital | Cardiology | 19/12/2022 | 14/01/2023 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medicine/study/electives/ | -- | Fill out forms early and submit this to the university EARLY EARLY EARLY you dont need to contact consultants in the UK by cold calling them lol | 10 | I had the best time! I was so well immersed into the culture of England. I was so well taken care of by the doctors and the team and I was able to do a lot of work but relax at the same time. I was able to use the time as my own and do whatever I wanted without judgement. The plebotomists would barely come so I was the "resident phlebotomists" for the interns and residents. I was able to assist the interns and residents because there were barely any registrars on the ward and patients were managed by interns. It was the best and I went all by myself with no other students so I not only learnt a lot of medicine from a different perspective but also learnt a lot about myself and how I want to be as a person. | English | Everything!- clinical, hanging out with the interns, meeting new people | I LOVED EVERYTHING | Stethoscope, pen torch, scrubs (so you dont need to bring clinical clothes) | Yes | - | - Make sure you pack light because you will not like travelling through many countries with 2 huge suitcases and also you will most DEFINITELY buy clothes and lots of other things - Bring scrubs so you don't have to worry about clinical clothes - Go alone if you are going to an English speaking country and then after your elective meet up with your mates and go travelling. This will put you out of your comfort-zone, yes but you will learn so much about yourself and how you are, and will get you to meet more people outside of Australia. - Go to a place where you can travel to other places/countries on the weekends - APPLY APPLY APPLY EARLY! - THINK THINK THINK EARLY about where you wanna go! - Think about whether you want an intensive elective or a chill elective (that will also dictate whether you will apply to a third world country university elective or even London/Canada where things are quite intense medicine-wise) - Plan every weekend so you can make the most of the time you have abroad. - Start saving money now! - Apply for scholarships early! | Yes | 200 GBP | $7000-9000 | Yes | Study Abroad Scholarship, PF Sobotka | Yes | No | Yes | India During elective: Scotland After elective: France, Sweden, Denmark | Already mentioned but contact me (Akanksha) on [email protected] if you want more information or advice x | No | [email protected] | ||
| 2023 | Choon Boon (Evangelyn) Sim | University of Cape Town | South Africa | Cape Town | Groote Schuur Hospital | Trauma | 26/12/2022 | 14/01/2023 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | http://www.healthelectives.uct.ac.za/groote-schuur-hospital-0 | Contact the office early. Many international students go for elective and it is a VERY popular hospital and get filled up very quick. | 10 | Great exposure to different trauma cases and can get involved in resuscitation, surgery etc. Perfect place to develop hands-on experiences. It will be helpful to be relatively comfortable with some basic procedural skills e.g. taking blood, cannulation, catheter, local anesthetic and suturing as it is a hectic place and it is hard to get close-up supervised training from scratch. It is a tertiary hospital so fewer chest drain-type procedures were done there as they were done in peripheral hospitals e.g. Mitchells Plain Hospital or New Somerset Hospital (both can be applied through the University of Cape Town). | English, African, Xhosa. | Hands on opportunity. | Safety. | masks, gloves, tourniquet, safety glasses. | Yes | Keep an open mind an you will learn a lot. It is a more challenging environment as they are relatively under-resourced when compared to Australia. However, the medicine and doctor skills are fabulous. | Yes | ~AUD1000 | ~AUD 6500 | Estimated: Fees 1000, Flights 3000, Accommodation 2000, Insurance 500. (Our elective opened up mid year so the cost is slightly higher. Do it earlier could be better.) | No | Yes | No | No | Safari, road trip. | No | [email protected] | |||||
| 2023 | Shawna Siversson | The University of Malta | Malta | Msida | Mater Dei | Hepatobiliary surgery | 14/12/2022 | 06/01/2023 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://www.um.edu.mt/ms/medicalelectives/ | Start filling out the forms early as there are lots and you need signatures from both UWA and Malta, so lots of emailing back and forth and waiting for email replies so leave time!! | 9 | Very laid back elective, starting around 8.30 am with ward rounds, outpatient clinic and theatre. I got to be very involved in theatre, scrubbing in every time. Malta is an excellent option if you want a more laid back elective with lots of time off to explore the Island. | Mostly Maltese, some English | Involvement by the team, high team morale, everyone was very friendly and welcoming. Exploring Malta. | Language barrier - Malta advertises itself as English speaking but the ward rounds and conversations between doctors are exclusively in Maltese. | Basic clinical placement stuff. Dress for a warm Perth winter +/- bathers. You can bring your laptop etc but I really didn't use it. | Yes | Show you are keen early on and ask lots of questions and then the team will really welcome you and be happy to give you time off to explore the island. | Yes | $460 for 4 weeks | $6050 total, excluding travel after | $5000 for flights + travel insurance, $460 for the elective, $540 for accomodation | Yes | PF Sobotka, $500 UWA overseas study grant | Yes | No | Yes | Sicily, Spain, Andorra, the Netherlands, Paris, Nice, Monaco, Copenhagan, Southern Sweden | Sicily is great and only 90min by ferry from Malta. Less is more - it got a bit annoying travelling to another country every couple of days. BUT at the same time try and do everything you want to so you don't come home with regrets. | No | [email protected] | |||
| 2023 | Nisha | University of Malta | Malta | Valetta | Mater Dei Hospital | Cardiology | 09/01/2023 | 23/01/2023 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | Through the website | 8 | Very fun elective. Lovely hospital, friendly teams | Maltese and English | Lots of other exchange students. Spent as much time in Cat labs and wards as I wanted and then got to leave as I saw fit. | Clinics were run in Maltese. Most older people only speak Maltese. But medical team always explained it to us in English | Scrubs and stethoscope | Yes | Pick non-medical electives, like surg/ anaesthetics. Teams speak English | Yes | 75 euro per week and 75 euro one off admin | Around 4000 | Yes | Study Abroad Scholarship, PF Sobotka | Yes | No | Yes | No | [email protected] | |||||||
| 2023 | Brodee Lockwood | Whiston Hospital St Helens and Knowsley NHS Teaching Trust | United Kingdom | Prescot, Liverpool | N/A | General Surgery, Anaesthetics | 12/12/2022 | 01/06/2023 | I arranged my elective with a Clinician that I contacted or knew | 10 | Myself and two other students undertook an elective in general surgery and anaesthetics. However our clinical lead was very flexible and allowed us experience in plastics, ICU, gastroenterology and radiology as well. We were very hands on scrubbing into every operation and getting hands on with the anaesthetics side. Overall this was an incredible experience that allowed us to experience the NHS hands on. | English | The flexibility of our clinical lead allowed us experience to many disciplines that we would otherwise not experience in Perth. The staff were incredibly friendly and encouraged us to get hands on with everything. | TO be honest there were very little aspects of this elective that I didn't enjoy. | An open and flexible mind. Enthusiasm and the attitude to get down and dirty, they will encourage you to do as much as possible. | Yes | Don't be afraid to ask to do what you want. For example if you are interested in a specific discipline (ie. burns) ask the clinical lead if you can do that because he will be more than willing to accomodate whatever you like. His attitude is that you have come over to see the NHS and experience what interests you the most. | No | I spent around $10 000 however that was with a 4 week Europe trip afterwards included. In total, the elective probably cost me $7-8000 | No | Yes | Yes | Bank of Queensland Specialist (BOQS) | Yes | Dublin, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna, Venice, Livigno, Milan, Rome | Anywhere in Europe | No | [email protected] | |||||||
| 2024 | Rachel | Tan Tock Seng Hospital | Singapore | Singapore | N/A | Trauma Surgery | 26/12/2023 | 19/01/2024 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://medicine.nus.edu.sg/current-students/clinical-electives-programme-for-overseas-visiting-student/ | Apply through the NUS website at least 6 months prior | 7 | Not your typical trauma surgery placement. Being a metropolitan city with lots of cars and motorcyclists on the road, that made up majority of the trauma cases I saw. When there were no trauma calls, the team operated like a normal general surgery department. The first two days of the week were elective operating days, followed by clinics and endoscopies. The team was overall inclusive, consultants were friendly, and some were really involved ine ducation. All the junior doctors were really busy so it was difficult to find time for teaching. Medical students in Singapore were very knowledgable and you could always ask them for help. Overall, an enjoyable elective, albeit could be better with shorter days and more opportunities for teaching. | English, Mandarin | Participating in trauma calls, minor suturing, procedural work such as blood studies, catheterisation and removal of drains. | Very long days. 6.30am start, finishing at about 4-5pm daily. This was what was expected at a medical student level in Singapore, albeit you could leave early and miss out on participation points. | Stethoscope (surgical docs don't always carry it around) Quest for learning Resilience and humility | Yes | - It was a requirement to do a minimum of 4 weeks at the department, no less. So if you want to experience how the Singapore healthcare system works, this is the place to go. - Be prepared to wake up early. The days start at 7.30am usually, but if you want to be involved you need to get there by 6.30am. - There is a hierarcy in the OTs, so be prepared to wear a yellow scrub hat if you're a medical student. - Embrace the cheap and yummy food! You get staff discounts at the cafeteria. | Yes | approx. $159 SGD | $1500 | - $1500 for flights as I flew in December. - Did not pay for accommodation as I stayed with my parents. - Insurance was free with Avants | Yes | Study Abroad Scholarship | No | No | Yes | Malaysia | Travelling to Malaysia via train/bus or a coach. Visiting tourist attractions: Marina Bay Sands, Sentosa etc | No | [email protected] | |||
| 11/02/2024 13:15:34 | Connor Simpson | Broome Health Campus | Australia | Broome | N/A | General Medicine, ED, Obstetrics, Surgery | 18/12/2023 | 12/01/2024 | I applied to the Rural Clinical School (Rural WA electives only) | 10 | Overall, I had a fantastic elective experience. As a smaller hospital, I quickly got to know everyone and felt valued as a member of the team. In general medicine, I saw first-hand the health challenges that Indigenous Australians face and how to effectively engage in a culturally safe manner. In ED, it was incredibly rewarding to follow a patient's journey from an initial history and examination, presenting to senior doctors and suggesting investigations, then performing the required blood tests / imaging and following through with my management plan and seeing patients get better. In obstetrics, I gained a deeper understanding of the reality of birthing on Country, and the antenatal resources unique to the Kimberley such as KMMS and BCYR. As the only student in a small surgical team, I was encouraged to scrub in to assist in laparoscopic camera holding, suturing, and cannulation. Across all specialties, I witnessed the differences in management and the limitations of logistical constraints in a rural setting which will be invaluable as a junior doctor in a metropolitan setting when engaging with rural patients or discharging them back home. | English | I enjoyed the autonomy and freedom as the only student in a small team to get involved with patient care as a junior doctor would. For example, in the ED I took a history and examination of a patient and used my clinical judgement to establish a differential diagnosis which was confirmed with investigations, leading to my management plan being enacted and the patient getting better! Here, I felt that all of my learning during medical school was put to use and I imagine this is what it feels like to be a doctor. | Being the only student can be quite isolating outside of the hospital. This could be avoided by going to your elective with another student, friend or family member. The student accommodation was not available over the summer so I had to organise private accommodation. | Sunscreen | Yes | Show your enthusiasm - introduce yourself to everyone, offer to scribe on ward rounds, perform procedural skills within your limits, clerk patients in ED, and scrub in to surgery. You will get a lot more out of the elective and sharpen your clinical skills going into MD4 and as a junior doctor. Don't limit yourself to the specialties you are assigned to. If there is nothing happening on the ward or in theatre, look for other opportunities such as visiting specialist clinics (cardiology, urology etc.) or join the anaesthetics team to meet patients in-between cases. Broome has great weekly teaching sessions for medical students and junior doctors, however it was not running during my elective (18th of December until 12th of January), so consider reaching out to find out when it is running and plan your elective accordingly. | No | $2500 | Flights - $500 Accommodation - $2000 | Yes | Rural Health West Elective Scholarship | No | No | No | No | [email protected] | ||||||||
| 11/02/2024 14:40:07 | Ying | National Taiwan University (NTU) | Taiwan | Taipei | National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) | Internal Medicine, Paediatrics | 04/12/2023 | 29/12/2023 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://www.mc.ntu.edu.tw/med/Fpage.action?muid=15&fid=649&l=en_US Ms I-wen Chang is the elective coordinator, her email is [email protected] All the information is on the website | Apply earlier in the year, for me it took about 3 months for them to get back to me. I applied initially in April and got the acceptance email in July. | 9 | I was placed with predominantly mandarin speaking supervisors and teams due to some mix up with my start date, so I am not sure how it might be for those that will be placed under a supervisor with experience taking on non-mandarin speaking students. Overall the teams were nice, welcoming towards international students. Patient notes written in English. Doctors communicate with patients in chinese. Internal med (pulmonology) - NTUH is a lung cancer referral hospital. So plenty of lung cancer patients, and got to see alot of clinical signs. There is a morning meeting almost every day - either teaching for students or junior doctors. Local students have classes 2-3x a week, can tag along if interested (it is in chinese, during my rotation they were on internal med so it was usually a random IM topic). Opportunity to watch interventional procedures (bronchoscopy, USS guided thoracentesis). Consultant was abit strict so I showed up for ward rounds (usually mornings) and then after it was pretty chill, plenty of opportunity to leave in the arvo. Free bento lunches for some seminars in the afternoon (you will see all the students flock to the lecture theatre) - definitely not to miss out on. You can 'clerk' a new patient in (take hx, examine, write the admission note) which the local students do at least once a week and present the case to the HOD (you can listen in, or present if you are brave). Paediatrics (gen paeds, ICU) - For the first week I was put on the gen paeds ward and told I could follow whatever team I wanted, but it was messy because I would not know what time all the different teams do their rounds, so I ended up sticking with the infectious diseases team. The consultant was nice, rounds were short and there was an opportunity to present a case with the whole department, good experience as they give you good feedback. ICU was abit more boring as there was not much students could get involved with. Local students also did not have much teaching during that time so I did not gain much from this rotation. | Chinese (Mandarin), English | Meeting local students, travelling around Taiwan. Seeing how healthcare in Asia is different from Australia. In NTU all the students were treated as part of the team and hospital system, which meant they were expected to stay long hours (not exchange students) but also means all the consultants saw teaching medical students as part of their job. Food in Taiwan is so yummy and cheap, and getting around in Taipei is so so convenient. Got to practice my chinese and learn more medical terms in chinese. | A little bit unorganised, lack of structure for international students. But I tagged along with whatever classes local students had and I had flexible timing to be invovled as much or as little as I wanted to, so overall can't complain. Taipei was so hot even in winter (some days up to 29 degrees) - global warming?? something to keep in mind for future students. | Lab coat (short one if you have, long coats are only worn by consultants but I just wore a long one because thats all I had). Whatever stuff you use for placements here in Aus like stethoscope, pen light, tendon hammer etc. | Yes | Try to be more structured (unlike me) and know what you want to get out of elective in terms of learning. And leave early if there is nothing going on!! | Yes | NTD 2500 per week + NTD 2500 application fee | Roughly $4000 AUD | Yes | PF Sobotka | No | No | Yes | Malaysia to visit family | Taiwan is in close proximity to Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, China. Could plan your travels there. But Taiwan itself is good to travel in since you are already there, worth it to see other states such as Tainan, Taichung, Hualien (Taroko Gorge national park), Kaoshiung. | No | [email protected] | ||||
| 25/02/2024 00:52:36 | Connor Earnshaw | Medical University of Graz | Austria | Graz | N/A | Orthopaedics and Traumatology | 11/12/2023 | 05/01/2024 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://www.medunigraz.at/en/international-student-mobility/clinical-rotation-traineeship-at-med-uni-graz | N/A | Eva Weixler (International Electives Officer) was an amazing contact at Med Uni Graz, and help me massively throughout the whole process. Contact the BOTH the host university and UWA early and complete and return paperwork EARLY for the best chance of success. Keep in regular contact with UWA through [email protected]. If you want advice relating to Med Uni Graz specifically, feel free to get in touch with me through messenger. | 10 | 10/10 Orthopaedics and Trauma was awesome at Med Uni Graz, and I had the best time! I also spent time with Anaesthetics when they didn't need me to assist, and that was a great experience also. I had so much opportunity to scrub in and assist with surgeries, as well as learn from incredible world-class doctors. I lived in student accommodation in a dorm with 5 other people studying through the ERASMUS program. My housemates were from Russia, Argentina, Czech Republic, Spain and Italy, which was an amazing time. They were always dragging me along to random events and parties, and it was a great cultural experience just spending time with them. Everyone was so welcoming and encouraging, and even though I did not speak German they made an effort to include me by speaking English when they could. In the afternoon/night following placement, I got out and explored the City of Graz which is an amazing place, and on weekends I travelled to places such as Vienna, Prague and Hallstatt. To be honest I wish I could do it all over again. | German - 98% of the time / English - when speaking directly to me | Everything!! But especially the people, everyone was amazing and I know I will have mentors and contacts for life. It is very encouraging when world-renowned surgeons remember your name and tell you they are would be excited to see you return in the future as a colleague or for future training. One of them has made a special effort to keep in touch with me since I have returned to Aus, and I hope they will continue to do so into the future. The places, placement and "vibe" were great and I would whole heartedly recommend it to anyone. Surgeries were very interesting, and I managed to pick up on a lot of things even when I couldn't fully understand what was being said. The city of Graz is a place I could imagine living, and is a must visit in my opinion. Maybe not the flashiest or most exciting city in Europe, but it felt like home even after only a month being there. | This did not bother me at all as I hardly ever wanted to leave placement, but if you are looking for a super low commitment elective whereby you want to have the occasional day off or arrive late/leave early, it may not be the best as Austrians are very punctual and follow structure and timelines to the letter. Also another small thing, but practically everything in Graz is closed on a Sunday. So you just have to plan to do shopping and eating out etc from Mon-Sat. However, overall there were no negatives for me. | Good quality winter wear (Austria in the winter can be cold). QUALITY BOOTS/shoes - in any sub-0 degree location, a good pair of water-proof/comfortable all purpose shoes are definitely worth it. I've never walked so much as the month over my elective (exploring) and I am glad I got a decent pair of boots. An eager and positive attitude! Remember you are representing yourself, UWA and Australia, and they all loved when I acted "so Australian" - even though it isn't obvious to me I was, they would always comment on it. Some good Aussie stories/references - can't believe how many times I got asked about spiders/kangaroos/quokkas/sharks/crocodiles/surfing/Steve Irwin/Round the Twist/Crocodile Dundee | Yes | If you want to be in a hospital/country that speaks English as the primary language, then this would not be the placement for you. I personally didn't feel that it affected my experience negatively at all, but it is definitely a worthwhile consideration. | If you don't want to do Ortho/Trauma, Med Uni Graz offers a lot of other areas of interest for elective students. I cannot speak to the teams directly, but I believe all of them would be an amazing experience if you are interested. This is the website link for the different areas of specialty that can be offered. https://www.medunigraz.at/en/university-departments Have fun!! It is easy to forget to enjoy med due to study/exams. Elective is an opportunity to just have a good time in an area of interest. Make the most of every opportunity. Always put your best foot forward. Try to meet up with your international colleagues at social events. Show interest in and be understanding of cultural differences - it is a great opportunity to learn! If you are wanting to go internationally, great!! It requires more organisation and planning, but it is definitely worth it. However, if you don't or due to circumstances can't, that's ok too and you can have positive experiences anywhere with good people and a good attitude. Make the most of it by looking around neighbouring towns/cities/countries for opportunities to do weekend trips etc. In Europe, high-speed trains are amazing for long distance travelling and buses are a great and cheap way to get around. You can probably pack lighter than you think...only thing I would have done differently is take less things with me, and I only had a medium sized suitcase and a backpack. | Yes | Approx $35-40 to join student guild, which was mandatory but allowed me access to university library and wifi. | Approx $4,500 (for only flights and accom only) | $3,000 - flights $1,300 - student accommodation $200 - travel insurance (for 2 weeks of travel after elective completed. UWA can provide insurance during the period of placement for free) $950 - trains/buses (includes weekend trips and 2 weeks of travel post placement) $400 - food during placement $2,000 - accommodation for 2 weeks travel post placement $1,000 - food 2 weeks travel (I LOOOOVE food - could definitely spend less if you needed to) $900 - miscellaneous things (gifts, guided tours, day trips, entry tickets to museums etc) Costs can obviously be very flexible depending on what suits you best. I could have done this trip cheaper if I wanted, but my sister joined me for the 2 weeks of travel post-placement and we wanted to enjoy it, and didn't mind spending a bit more to have a great time and be comfortable. Set yourself a clear budget before you go, and make a general plan to assess how realist that will be and if you have to modify your trip. Remember to apply for as many scholarships as you can, and the OS-HELP loan is available if you need it. | Yes | PF Sobotka | Yes | No | Yes | Vienna (2 nights) Prague (3 nights) Hallstatt (2 nights) Paris (4 nights) Milan (2 nights) Florence (2 nights) Rome (4 nights) | Plan as much as you can before you leave. Buy tickets to attractions, and make sure they are open on the day you want to visit. Things are often closed on Sunday. It also helps you follow a budget if you know the costs of the more expensive things before you are overseas. Using an international eSim (I used Airalo and got a Europe-wide sim) makes getting data overseas super easy. Using whatsapp/messenger/telegram/viber is fine. I also used Wise (international debit card) for all of my payments, and its easy to use as you just put $AUD on it and it auto-converts to whichever currency is native in the country you are currently in. I also recommend taking some cash for markets and stalls, especially around Christmas time. Eurail is an app that you can use to plan all of your international travel by bus or train while in Europe, which I found super convenient. I personally got the "10 days of travel over 2 months" pass and I made the most of it. For Graz specifically, there is a public transport app "GrazMobil - Bus & Tram ticket" where a bought a month pass for all buses, trams and ferries within the city and surrounding suburbs of Graz. | No | [email protected] | |
| 26/02/2024 14:01:41 | Tor Demmers | Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) | Tanzania | Moshi | N/A | ED | 12/11/2023 | 01/05/2024 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://www.kcmc.ac.tz/ Email Aneth at [email protected] | 10 | I'm pretty convinced that we couldn't have chosen a better place for elective than KCMC... Placement is interesting and super flexible if you want to do other things, there's a really good number of other international elective students (expect mostly Germans) who are super friendly and welcoming so you'll meet plenty of fun people. The elective and accom are super cheap and there's heaps of cool stuff to do (Zanzibar, safari, Kilimanjaro, and lots else!) although they tend to be expensive. | Swahili, English | Interesting placement, social aspects, weather, all the trips | Most patients don't speak English which is quite hard (doctors and nurses do), flights and things like kilimanjaro and safari were very expensive (easily worth it still), some of the poorer level of medical care in the hospital can be confronting and frustrating (but it is a a good learning experience) | Scrubs, steth, masks for placement, wet weather and hiking stuff (Nb if you want to do kili you can hire most gear there easily but their 'waterproof' hiking boots can really catch you out), portable charger | Yes | This doc is your best friend https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/105RBYNxQfI6CnSZW4pvmfGfuVYltkx0O1G0Fgnbx-JA/mobilebasic | No | $4000ish | you will be required to pay $ 200 usd registration at KCMC, For accommodation cost is US $ 150 per month, per person(single or double room depending on vacancies) then $10 for key deposit the refund at end ) $ 50 for Student Visa. Flights you can look up but can be $3000 ish | Yes | PF Sobotka | Yes | No | Yes | Zanzibar, Nairobi | See above | No | [email protected] | |||||
| 26/02/2024 18:28:15 | Januki de Zoysa | The National Hospital of Sri Lanka via the University of Colombo | Sri Lanka | Colombo | National Hospital of Sri Lanka | General Medicine | 07/01/2024 | 22/01/2024 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://med.cmb.ac.lk/iu/elective/ | 10 | I had a great time! The consultants and students were very friendly and helpful. I had the opportunity to learn about Tropical medicine and see severe signs of common disorders (liver failure, heart murmurs) which are hard to find in Australia. | English (tutorials, lectures, ward rounds and some patients) + Sinhala (patients) | The patients and the teaching!! There was so much HIGH QUALITY teaching!! Would recommend !!! | The heat (but you get used to it in like 2-3 days and there are overhead fans in the hospital), admin was a bit dodgy at first. | Nothing special | Yes | Make the most of your hospital. You don’t have to stick to your department, (if allowed) go see patients in other clinics (I.e derm/rheum etc) | Yes | $200 | Flights were 2.8k (but that’s because I left booking the flights till the very end) | No | No | No | No | No | [email protected] | ||||||||
| 26/02/2024 18:53:05 | Tharani Sivakumaran | KK Womens' & Childrens' Hospital Singapore | Singapore | singapore | N/A | Neonatology | 11/12/2023 | 22/12/2023 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://www.kkh.com.sg/education-training/undergraduate | Prepare a good CV and a compelling essay on why you want to do this elective | 8 | Was great exposure to how the medical system works overseas. I got to see a good mix of wards and clinics and work with different clinicians specialising in various aspects of paediatrics/ neonatology. Honestly a very chill and laid back elective as well. | English | I got to observe and work with many allied health individuals beyond just doctors i.e. Physiotherapists, OTs, Social Workers | - | - | Yes | Good opportunity for learning at a relatively leisurely pace | Yes | $126 (for singapore citizens). $1000+ for non-citizens | $1200 | No | No | No | No | No | [email protected] | |||||||
| 27/02/2024 14:43:19 | Britt Clynick | Busselton Health Campus WACHS | Australia | Busselton | N/A | ED | 02/01/2024 | 25/01/2024 | I applied to the Rural Clinical School (Rural WA electives only) | 10 | This was overall a great clinical experience. As a smaller, rural hospital you get to know all the staff and meet some great locum Drs as well. You get to shadow a range of different Drs with different backgrounds, including many Rural GP - ED trainees, as well as FACEMs. They were really flexible with working hours and working days and highly encouraged us to also take some time to explore all that the SW region has to offer. There was ample opportunity to develop procedural skills, many cannulations, stitching, injections, POC testing, ECGs and general cardiac monitoring as well. If you are interested, there is also the opportunity to spend some time at the Margaret River ED, which I was also grateful to have done, seeing another smaller hospital and getting a different range of patients/hands on experience. Again, if you are interested, there is the opportunity to choose to shadow other specialties, including gen med on the wards, O&G and attend theatres for gen surg cases. Great place, highly recommend. | English | Loved all the hands on experience I got in an ED setting, and an opportunity to clerk patients and carry through with their care. | None | The usual stuff you always bring on placement, and especially scrubs if you have them, or you can wear the surgical scrubs from theatre (no one was in other formal wear) | Yes | N/A | You get out of it what you put in. Be proactive, volunteer to help where you can, go and see patients, attempt cannulas and take bloods, only by practicing these skills will you master them. | No | N/A | Usual amounts for accommodation/food/travel from Perth - be organised because accommodation can be hard to find that time of year. | No | No | No | No | Busselton is super close to Dunsborough, Yallingup and Margaret River, make the most of being in the region and explore it if you haven't already. | No | [email protected] | |||||||
| 27/02/2024 17:54:43 | Aaron See | University of Pittsburgh | USA | Pittsburgh | UPMC Oakland/Presbyterian | Respiratory | 02/01/2024 | 28/01/2024 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://www.medstudentaffairs.pitt.edu/visiting-students | apply early and be ready for paperwork! Write a good personal statement as well. | 9 | This elective was amazing! You will feel really involved and responsible- expected to independently review, clerk, present, and write notes on assigned patients. Might also expect to answer patient questions, communicate with other team members, give little teaching presentations. Really felt part of the team and could advocate for your patients. You also get to make connections and attend conferences. The Drs I worked with are incredibly nice, and will go out of their way to help you, get to know you, give you advice, write letters of rec, etc. Would highly recommend for those seeking to apply for US training. Expect quite full on working days, but had weekends where I got time to fly to NYC, etc. | English | I genuinely felt like I was part of the team- had responsibilities, could advocate for my assigned patients, sometimes would answer pt/relative questions, had to write patient notes. The Drs I worked with are incredibly nice, and will go out of their way to help you, get to know you, give you advice, teach you, write letters of rec, etc. | This elective program is expensive (USD 4500) and accommodation is hard to find. Gets a bit tiring because of the long days. Writing notes is really time consuming b/c of their approach and billing/litigation reasons. | white coat + steth | No | Yes if intending to pursue career in US, probably not worth it otherwise. | Be confident, proactive, take initiative by giving little teaching topics during rounds. | Yes | USD $4500 | Roughly x2 the above | No | No | No | Yes | Around the US | Weekend getaway trip to NYC. Honestly Pittsburgh is really cool- lots to do, would recommend watching ice hockey (penguins), mt washington, museums (carnegie, heinz, warhol), although the weather is pretty bad during Dec/Jan, need winter clothing and boots. | No | [email protected] | ||||
| 29/02/2024 13:51:31 | Michaela Marshall | Seoul National University | South Korea | Seoul | N/A | Paediatric ICU | 04/12/2023 | 29/12/2023 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://medicine.snu.ac.kr/en/bbm/bbs/selectBoardArticleView.do?nttId=590 | Using the elective website is easy, but your application will not be considered until you bank transfer the $125AUD application fee. Note that the admin are slow to respond to emails (expect 2 weeks delay in response). | 7 | Loved living in Korea, studying was not very educational. | Korean, English (minimal) | 1. Great food, shopping, sightseeing 2. Unique presentations due to the famous oncology department at the hospital (complications presenting to ICU) and rare presentations due to the reputation of the hospital and competition from private hospitals for the more common pathology. | 1. Fees: est $1000AUD study fees ontop of $125AUD application fee. Flights ontop of this is quite expensive. 2. Observership: No patient interaction nor opportunity for procedural skill practice. 3. Commitment expectations: expected to be there 9-5PM minimum, not dismissed until the professor receives a debrief from juniors, therefore often left the hospital after 5PM, and even 7PM. 5 days a week for entirety of placement. 4. Language barrier: prev entries, SNU info and online info will tell you English is spoken in the clinical/learning environment, it is not. You may not be paired with someone who speaks english fluently. I was paired with a reg who spoke English fluently, but no patient-doctor, nurse-doctor, doctor-doctor interaction was in english, only quick translations after the fact. 5. Teaching: no formal and minimal bedside teaching. 6. ICU: uneventful | 1. White coat: all students and doctors expected to wear. Bring professional clothes. 2. Warm clothes: Black puffer jacket is the norm, thermals will save your life 3. Cash: Few places accepted apple pay/wallet, and some only accept cash. Withdrawal fees are high in Seoul, so bring converted cash or aud to the airport for exchange. | No | High commitment and fees, for few learning opportunities. I would recommend selecting a different specialty, and only going for 2 weeks, if not go to SK for a holiday instead, and do your selective somewhere else! | 1. Hot packs from convenient stores 2. Best+cheap food is from non-chain, mom+pop shops 3. Just catch train from the airport 4. Seongsu is the superior shopping district 🙂 | Yes | Bank transfer | 5000 minimum before spending/extra | Flights - 1500 Accom - 1100 Fees - 1250 Insurance - 200 Transport - 200 | Yes | PF Sobotka | Yes | No | Yes | Tokyo | Do the group tours! You think you can do it on your own but it's hard! | No | [email protected] | ||
| 03/03/2024 13:49:01 | Henry Pemberton | Kundiawa General Hospital | Papua New Guinea | Kundiawa | N/A | Orthopaedics and ED | 30/11/2023 | 24/12/2023 | I arranged my elective with a Clinician that I contacted or knew | 9 | An unforgettable and incredible life experience. I was based in the hospital and lived on the grounds during the week and would go back to my host doctor's village on the weekends. I spent the first week and a half on orthopaedic surgery and the last two weeks on ED, seeing a broad range of conditions, often very different to what you'd see in Australia. | English, pidgin | I loved the autonomy I was given and how friendly the doctors and locals were to me. I was able to do pleural taps, an abdominal tap, bloods, cannulas and assist in any surgery I wanted to. A particular highlight was hiking Mt Wilhelm, Oceania's highest peak, in my final week. Although the flights were expensive, a paid nothing to stay on the hospital grounds and have my meals in the week provided by them and food and fresh produce was very cheap. | I was able to do very little history and examinations as most of the locals spoke poor English. Fortunately, English was the language of medicine so I still felt involved in their care. The village I was in was not safe at night so I was effectively stuck there during the week until I could visit my host doctor on the weekend. I saw an impressive range of conditions in ED but going in December meant the hospital was winding down for the holidays and there weren't as many patients as there normally would be. | Bring scrubs, your stethoscope and standard equipment you'd take to prac, hiking clothes but try to pack light. Travel between towns is done on the public bus and you'll have to pay for a second seat if you bring a large suitcase (as I did). | Yes | Find a connection in Australia who can help organise and ideally be there at the same time as you. Bring a gift for the hospital, such as medical equipment. Be prepared for a huge cultural shock and be open to learning different ways of doing things, even if they might not be best practice in well-resourced healthcare settings. Although I loved rural Papua New Guinea, this is not a destination for the faint hearted and can't feasibly be organised by yourself. I was lucky to have a doctor I'd met earlier in the year in Australia with me at the time who helped me navigate the experience. I suspect more touristy locations, such as the capital and the coast would be more accessible to tourists/medical students than where I was. | No | No donation was required but the hospital did request a donation of thermometers and pulse oximeters for the children's outpatient department if I was able to. Subsidised by LINCS, I spent $500 on this but as of March I am still waiting to reimbursed. | Around $2000 | No | No | No | No | No | [email protected] | |||||||||
| 03/03/2024 18:54:24 | Luke Uden | Nagoya University | Japan | Nagoya | Nagoya University Hospital | Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery | 04/12/2023 | 15/12/2023 | I applied directly through the host institution/university | https://www.med.nagoya-u.ac.jp/intlexch/english/abroad/overseas.html | 10 | Had a great experience. Highly recommend to all medical students. Very well organised. | Japanese, limited English | Good range of interesting surgeries. Understanding and accommodating team. Very well organised with cheap student accommodation (~$175 for 2 weeks). Japanese medical students were very friendly and held events to welcome international students (e.g. karaoke nights, dinners). Also very affordable. | Understandably, there was limited teaching during this elective due to language barriers. | UWA lab coat, face masks and clinical clothes (not scrubs). Bring a towel, toiletries and indoor slippers if you are staying at the student accommodation. Also bring some souvenirs for the students and doctors (e.g. Tim Tams)! | Yes | Reach out early and frequently follow up throughout the application process. | No | $2500 | Yes | PF Sobotka | No | No | No | [email protected] | |||||||||
| 02/05/2024 16:03:42 | Kyle Tranter | UWA | Australia | Perth | Perth Children's Hospital | Infectious Diseases | 04/12/2023 | 22/12/2023 | I arranged my elective with a Clinician that I contacted or knew | 10 | This is a consultation service - you will get referrals to see other team's patients regarding diagnosing infections +/- antimicrobial choice or other management. There are also clinics to see lower acuity infectious topics (e.g. TB, community needlestick injuries, asplenia). The consultants are all super nice and love to teach. | English | The ID team were very eager to include me - I observed on day 1, and subsequently went to independently assess their new consults before presenting to the team | Once weekly handover meeting - usually a couple hours, a lot went over my head. Good if you can present a few cases there. | Usual stuff (pens, notebook, stethoscope), no need for anything special. Probably handy to have your phone to pull up guidelines, or look stuff up on the go. | Yes | Just rock up and be keen, everyone is so lovely, they make it VERY easy to get integrated into the team. Usual day goes from 0800-1700. If you need to leave ask, they will be fine with it. | No | N/A - I live in Perth. Sorry, not very helpful | No | No | No | No | No | [email protected] |