Notes on Completion of the Electives Outline Form

We have created an online database available from the administration section of the website. This allows you to record your potential elective plans, progress etc. Once the plans have been finalised you will be able to complete the online form.

Students who are returning from an Intercalated degree or are hoping to undertake an Intercalated degree after 4th year are still required to submit an elective outline.

We may run a number of workshops throughout the year to provide you with more guidance on preparing your elective outline and details on these will follow in due course.

These forms are used to:

Provide evidence that you have thought about and organised a suitable elective project.
Demonstrate you have assessed the potential risks or strategies and arrangements relating to the Elective.
Ensure the University of Aberdeen has details of the whereabouts and contact details relevant to the Elective period.
Ensure that you are undertaking the elective at the appropriate time allocated to you.
Where applicable, it forms the basis of discussion at the Elective interview and thus part of the assessment of the proposal that may lead to the awarding of a travel bursary and progression to final year.

The form MUST include:

The address for the Elective, whether in Aberdeen or elsewhere. This must be full address of host supervisor/ elective location, even if in Aberdeen.
Who is to supervise the project in Aberdeen and in the host venue. This must include both local and host supervisors details and signature of local supervisor. In all instances you should include the title of the supervisors eg Dr or Professor
Contact details of these people. Must include email address and ideally phone and fax number.
Dates you are undertaking your elective.
The title of the project. This must be a meaningful title - "Elective Project" or "To be confirmed" does not suffice.
A summary of the project to be carried out, ensuring that all prompts are answered fully.
References
Confirmation that you have considered all "tasks" eg ethics and confirmation that you have read the regulations.

Once these points have been completed you will be able to forward this to your local supervisor electronically who must confirm he/she has discussed the plans with you and are happy with the arrangements. This in turn will submit the form to the MBChB office. If the form is missing any of the required parts you will be unable to submit it to your local supervisor and/or the office and you will be marked as a late submission.

Remember - late or unsatisfactory submission will preclude students from eligibility for financial assistance from university elective travel bursaries and could result in refusal of class certificate and/or non-progression to final year.

The title should be concise and informative with further information being given in the statement.

It is suggested the text include the following:

An introductory sentence (or two but no more) giving a background to the subject and citing one or two key references.
A statement of what the project aims to do. (eg, This project will review diagnostic criteria for AIDS used in Hospital X)
Methods to be used in the project. (eg, Hospital X receives around 40 cases of AIDS per month. I will gather data on age, gender, presenting symptoms and signs over a 5-week period for all attending patients diagnosed as having AIDS. Any laboratory tests or other investigations and (where available) the results of these will be included. These data will be analysed to determine the means by which the diagnosis was reached. The results will be compared with those in published studies, conclusions drawn and recommendations made.
You should also ensure you have answered all the prompts

In order to do this, it is evident that details will need to have been discussed with the supervisor in the location of the Elective to take into consideration local circumstances. The reason for this is to encourage realistic expectations – in the example above, it would be realistic to see 25 – 40 patients who fit the study criteria; do not expect 250! It is necessary to think out exactly what can be done and how you can do it. This approach is recommended because it allows effective planning to ensure that the project takes up a reasonable component of time wherever it is carried out and leaves enough time to be involved in the other activities of the hospital or environment in which the Elective is carried out.

A project involving patient based research, whatever its nature will, in many countries, including the UK, require ethical scrutiny and approval. This is usually a time consuming process (often 3-6 months) and you should discuss this with local and host institution supervisors early in the planning to ensure time to gain approval if it is required (See ethics approval section).

Be careful if considering a project based around weather related injuries such as snowboarding in the Highlands. You will have no way of controlling the weather and expecting alot of snow and the subsequent injuries may not happen if a mild season. It can be a similar situation for any sporting injuries as what happens one season may not be the same the following year so have a plan B.

Please note the word limit of 450 words.

The proposal should have been discussed with and agreed by supervisors – both in Aberdeen and in the Elective location.

Submission of Outline Submission (ME4020)

Timely submission is the responsibility of the student. The deadline is there to ensure students complete arrangements of administrative components of the Elective well in advance, to allow time for proposals to be assessed – this is a considerable logistic exercise for the MBChB Office and Electives Advisers, which requires detailed, advance planning to allow clinical staff to organise service cover.

· It is mandatory that the form is agreed and signed by the local supervisor before submission. The system will not allow the form to be submitted until approved by the local supervisor.

· Submission of a satisfactory elective outline and attendance at an interview is a compulsory component of the MBChB degree and a pre-requisite for progression to final year.

· Late or unsatisfactory submission will preclude students from eligibility to financial assistance from University Elective travel bursaries and could result in refusal of a class certificate or non-progression to final year.