Procedural Information
Students are encouraged to consult the
past elective reports and discuss alternatives with their Clinical Associate Dean (or Nominee).
Students are to make individual arrangements for electives. It is important to
make early arrangements, especially for overseas placements
(one year in advance is not too early).
Students are required to complete the Elective Term Application form located on eMed.
The process for approval
- Return your form (signed by prospective supervisor, or letter of agreement) to the Electives Coordinator in the Office of the Dean, UNSW Medicine.
- Your application is forwarded by the Electives Coordinator to the Clinical Associate Dean of your UNSW Hospital attachment.
- If your Clinical Associate Dean approves your application it will be forwarded to the Senior Associate Dean for final approval.
- If approved by the Senior Associate Dean you will receive a confirmation email.
- When approved you can confirm your acceptance of the offer with your prospective supervisor.
Note: If unforseen events occur in your proposed elective country the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) of the University has the final say as to whether travel can be undertaken.
Objectives of the Elective Term
The objectives of the Elective term are to:
- Further develop knowledge in Medicine and/or Surgery;
- To acquire training for a career in a specialty of Medicine;
- To experience a different type of health care delivery from that practised in Australia;
- To obtain experience that may influence subsequent career orientation;
- To correct perceived deficiencies in their undergraduate program and/or
- To obtain a short introduction to research methods and philosophy
Requirements
Students are encouraged to
organise their elective term early. The earliest starting date will be one week after the end of Year 5 (subject to not being required to undertake the remedial term) and the elective should be completed before the commencement of the Year 6 lecture week.
Students will engage in eight (8) weeks in one of the following areas:
- Any school or department within the Faculty of Medicine, UNSW
- In a hospital or medical institution in Australia or overseas
- With a medical practitioner in Australia or overseas
Students may engage in two four-week placements in different areas.
In anticipation of risks associated with undertaking an elective, students are required to
submit a one-page risk assessment (link is provided in your application form or on the
Electives Checklist page.
Supervisor
It is especially important to request an appropriate person to act as supervisor, as the submission of a supervisor’s report to the Office of the Dean is required.
Please include your student ID on all documents.
The Faculty requires all students to provide contact details whilst on electives. Complete these details on your Elective Term application in
eMed.
You may not know these details until you arrive at your destination. As soon as you have these details please complete this section of the form.
Assessment
A one thousand-word report prepared by the student, along with a supervisor report, forms the basis of assessment. The supervisor report must be submitted to the Office of the Dean at the completion of the elective term. Your report must be submitted online via your Electives page on
eMed.
If more than one placement is undertaken. The total word count for both reports should be one thousand words.
It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that both reports are received by the beginning of Year 6 in time for consideration by the Assessment Committee. Failure to submit the student and supervisor(s) reports will result in a fail result for the elective term and the term will have to be repeated at the end of year 6, thus delaying graduation.
Insurance
The University has appropriate arrangements to insure students against personal injury or illness. Students must ensure that they take with them this information prior to going overseas.
Students are covered by UNSW against medical indemnity issues whilst in the clinical setting. In some cases the host University also provides cover. A letter indicating the amount of cover can be obtained by contacting Peter Herring in the Office of the Dean, phone 9385 2452. It is suggested that this letter is sent to the medical school/hospital with a covering letter to ask if the amount meets their requirements. Students should also keep a copy of the information as it includes the University's emergency contact number
| Following is our current insurer Emergency Contact: |
| Insured : | University of NSW |
| Policy : | 0007072 |
| Contact Number : | 61 2 9202 8211 |
However, the very high level of medicolegal claims in countries in North America may mean that the amount of cover from UNSW is insufficient to meet claims. Some host universities ask for evidence of level of insurance cover.
Important Considerations about Electives Undertaken Overseas
The safety of UNSW students is of paramount concern to the Faculty. Therefore, the Faculty may not approve some electives.
In general, The University acts on advice issued by The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Whilst electives are organised well in advance, it is essential for students to check the
DFAT website on a regular basis for travel warnings before leaving Australia. Conditions in some countries are in a volatile state and sometimes even the most serene location can become unstable in a short time. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) of
the University has the final say as to whether travel can be undertaken.
Health Risk
Students undertaking electives outside Australia need to consider the usual risks associated with travel to that region. There may also be additional risks related to the work environment. Students should seek specific advice either from a primary practitioner with expertise in travel medicine or from a specialist travel advisory centre (such as
Travel Doctor TMVC). This website has locations of a number of travel medicine clinics, but many local GPs also have an interest in travel medicine.
Students should also look up travel websites themselves, such as
CDC travel and
WHO or a personally tailored travel site, such as
MASTA.
As some vaccination regimens take months to complete, this should be attended to well in advance of the anticipated time of travel.
Obviously it is expected that all students will be up to date with the immunisations required for working in their usual clinical schools.
If students will be undertaking electives in areas where access to post exposure prophylaxis for HIV is not available they need to consider their risk management strategy in this circumstance. It may be necessary for students to obtain advice about the use of PEP and carry antiretroviral medication. Students should contact the relevant clinical service in their clinical school to obtain information about PEP and antiretroviral drugs.
Personal Safety
Students should refer to appropriate websites such as the
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) for current travel warnings.
In addition to generic concerns, there are some areas where it may not be safe for women to travel alone.
Supervision
The elective is a learning experience and the student will need to demonstrate that the level of supervision available will enable the objectives of the elective to be achieved. In some cases lack of supervision also has implications for health risk to the student.
Language
Some students will consider electives in countries in which English is not the first language. This needs to be considered in terms of the level of academic supervision of the proposed elective, as well as whether the lack of understanding of the local language compromises student safety in the health environment.
Important Information for Students undertaking Electives
Students who are preparing to undertake their Elective Course overseas should be aware of the evolving outbreak of avian influenza (bird flu) in various countries.
Countries currently affected by avian influenza include Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia, Turkey, Romania, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The spread of avian influenza is expected to continue into Europe and Africa.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has not advised against travel to any of the affected countries.
Students travelling to these areas should
- avoid situations where they may come into contact with farms and live bird markets, and
- ensure all uncooked poultry and eggs are handled hygienically, with careful attention to hand washing after handling, and then cooked thoroughly. Proper cooking destroys the virus in poultry and eggs.
In accordance with the recommendations of the WHO and Australian Commonwealth Government, prophylaxis with antiviral drugs including oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamavir (Relenza) is not recommended.
Students working in health facilities in these countries should ascertain if there are any human cases of avian influenza. The risk of transmission of avian influenza from human cases is currently very low but a change in the transmissibility of the virus could lead to significant risk. Accordingly, students should not place themselves in a situation where they may be exposed to human cases of avian influenza.
Students should continue to monitor the spread of avian influenza and emergence of human cases. Current information on countries affected by avian influenza and human cases is available on the
WHO website.
In the event of the WHO declaring a pandemic of human influenza, students working in affected areas should terminate their elective studies.