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Electives!

Another tangent of the discussion thread that might lend itself to its own thread now it's not going to rapidly be pushed down the pages by pre-freshers...

So - I thought a combination of amusing/motivating anecdotes & planning angst might be fun & useful for those who haven't started planning or potential paths crossing! I've just had confirmation for the second half of mine. :woo:

Where did/are you going, when, doing what, advice to other people?

If I pass finals :bawling:

I'm off straight afterwards in February.

<edit: snipped details>

Currently having form filling in fun - medical school, indemnity, insurance, occupational health (I hate blood tests) & needing to sort flights/accommodation.
Advice: do not under-estimate the forms, urgh. Start early. Chase receipts of paperwork - ideally mine wouldn't be this last minute but it took 8 weeks & 3 copies for something to arrive (!) Fill in paperwork for any medical school/college grant going. :biggrin:

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Reply 1

randdom

Where did/are you going, when, doing what, advice to other people?

I did my elective in September (for some reason we seem to do it really early :s-smilie:

)

I ended up at the Health protection agencies centre for infection in North London. While it wasn't my first choice I think I learnt quite a lot about public health and also to a lesser extent infectious diseases. It was an interesting experience and looking back on it now I wouldn't change it for the world. One thing I would note is that if people are staying in the UK be ready to feel really really jelous when people come home and put all there amazing pictures up on facebook :p:

Reply 2

Hygeia

I think I'm going to Gibraltar for my elective at the end of year 4, but haven't really started planning it yet - some people in my year have got a lot further but i don't think we get our electives lecture til the new year

Reply 3

Renal

I'll be going to NZ for seven weeks in April/May doing Gen Med and adventure sports (if I ever actually book it).

Reply 4

crazyhelicopter

I haven't got the faintest idea where I'm heading yet- current forerunner is Sunny Coast in Oz, but we'll see

Reply 5

fairycakes

neither do i! mine is this time next year, but am thinking of somewhere on the se asia, india, pacific islands sort of way....but to do trauma and a surgical speciality i haven't decided yet...

anyone got any tips? xxxx

Reply 6

Helenia

Well, I had a bit of drama around mine (as some of you may remember...)

First plan was Canada, to the University of Toronto, to do O&G and Paeds, and the University of Manitoba to do rural GP. Both had very lengthy forms and required lots of Occ Health stuff - Mantoux, CXR, lots of vaccine checks etc. Toronto also required a fairly hefty registration fee up front, which was around £150 (plus international money order fee). Both also required me to fill in the forms a long way in advance. I sent them off some 6 months before I was due to go. Toronto got back to me about 4 months later telling me they had no spaces, and gave me a partial refund (gee, thanks :rolleyes:

). Irritatingly, a few people who'd applied after me did get places in different specialties. Manitoba never got back to me apart from to confirm they'd received my application, then nothing. At all.

So, that sucked. I panicked, e-mailed lots of random people and got nowhere. Nearly got one at UCL with a consultant gynaecologist with some cool special interests, but then the university themselves were arses so I wasn't allowed. However, in the end it was all worthwhile because I got to go to...

Swaziland!
I was at Good Shepherd Hospital in Siteki. It's one of the best hospitals in Swaziland, but still incredibly basic compared with the UK. That said, it is very used to having medical students and even has a little house within the hospital grounds you can stay at (for a fee). Alternatively there's a hostel not far away, where I stayed, along with several other students. There's no formal teaching but the doctors there are generally helpful and keen. You can do quite a few specialties - medicine (primarily infectious diseases, esp TB/HIV), surgery, paeds, O&G, ENT and ophthalmology, off the top of my head. You get quite a lot of independence in terms of running your own consultations, being able to deliver babies and assist in theatre if you want to. I mainly did public health (preventing mother to child transmission of HIV), O&G and general medical outpatients. For more info, see my (now rather out-of-date) blog. If people want contact details for the hospital or other general info, PM me!

Advice: If you want to go to a big teaching hospital in a developed country, APPLY EARLY. No, earlier than that.
Swaziland is lovely, go there.
Get travel insurance - it's lovely but if I got sick I wouldn't have wanted to stay there.

Reply 7

Spencer Wells

I'm going to the Cook Islands in 10 days, via Sydney for New Year. On the way back I'm driving around Southern California for a week and a half.

Reply 8

belis

I was going to apply to Univeristy of Toronto. Now I am having second thoughts. :s-smilie:

Reply 9

Helenia

belis

I was going to apply to Univeristy of Toronto. Now I am having second thoughts. :s-smilie:

To be fair to them, several other people from Cambridge went and had no problems. I'm the only one I know of who didn't get in, I'm just bitter. :wink:

If you apply early (and I mean more than 6 months, which is what I did), you should be ok.

Reply 10

Wangers

I'm guessing (without prying) that I might want to start saving up some money for this kind of thing during preclins when I can work? Or see how everything turns out?

Reply 11

Ribbons

Helenia

Advice: If you want to go to a big teaching hospital in a developed country, APPLY EARLY. No, earlier than that.

How early is early enough? :ninja:

I don't even know when we get a talk on electives, so haven't a clue about anything!

Reply 12

Helenia

Oooh yes, the money...

I think mine cost around £1800 in total (but could have been done cheaper if I'd booked flights earlier).
I had about £600 saved from working in my gap year - did have more, but gradually ate into it over 5 years of med school.
I got £200 from my college as a travel grant.
I got £450 from a local charity which funds educational trips for Shropshire students
I got £250 from my Grandpa.
The rest (not much) was out of my pocket. There are other bursaries etc available at most universities if you apply in time, but mine was organised so late that I couldn't.

So yeah, I'd advise trying to get some savings started if you haven't already - you might as well as you won't have the time nearer elective!

Ribbons

How early is early enough? :ninja:

I don't even know when we get a talk on electives, so haven't a clue about anything!

For Toronto, applications open 9 months before your start date and close 4 months before - and I sent mine off 6 months before and didn't get in. Other places, especially in the USA and Australia, start taking applications even earlier.

I don't know about your med school but our elective talk was pretty rubbish. The clinical school arranged one for us but we had very little "official" support. I'd start researching even if you haven't had the talk yet.

Reply 13

Elles

Wangers

I'm guessing (without prying) that I might want to start saving up some money for this kind of thing during preclins when I can work? Or see how everything turns out?

I'm a saver in general..! :biggrin:

Some aspects of mine are expensive - current guestimate is:

- Flights = £1,600
- Accommodation = ~£800 (first half looks like being provided for free by the hospital, 2nd half an expensive city)
- Transport = no idea what a 4 week metro pass would be, on the to do list...
- Food = I would eat at home! But apparently Cook Islands fairly expensive & America big city with weak £ prices
= ?£3,000 total?

& funding the week inbetween the two placements (accommodation/transport) but that's holiday / pre-wedding-moon! :p:

... But lucky with the bursaries:
- Medical school travel = £400
- College travel = £700
- College research = £350 - 700 (yet to apply, fingers crossed)
- Obscure trust based on my hometown = £ hopefully pending

Then the rest'll be our savings.

Reply 14

belis

Helenia

To be fair to them, several other people from Cambridge went and had no problems. I'm the only one I know of who didn't get in, I'm just bitter. :wink:

If you apply early (and I mean more than 6 months, which is what I did), you should be ok.

Which rotations have you applied for if you don't mind me asking?

Reply 15

randdom

Cost was one of the few advantages of staying in the UK :smile:

Reply 16

Hygeia

randdom

Cost was one of the few advantages of staying in the UK :smile:

That's part of my reason for wanting to go to Gibraltar - return flights are around the £20 park i think. And there's a ready supply of electricity unlike in some places that others in my year are planning on going.