What is a Medical Elective?

The medical elective is an 8-week block where you complete a fully independent project from anywhere in the world on a subject and speciality of your choice.

What is a project?

A project is defined as “a discrete piece of work conceived with guidance by and for the student”

A project may take several forms including but not limited to: -

A short clinical or laboratory research study testing a hypothesis
An evaluation of a service or specific intervention
A detailed and extensive review of the literature on a topic with illustrative case-based examples
An audit of a service or component of a service with accepted standards
A standard-setting observational study from which audits might follow
A survey to establish levels of knowledge, skill, behaviours, values or beliefs about a specific topic
An educational project that produces material to facilitate, teach or train the students, staff, patients or wider public

Project fine print:

The University of Aberdeen does not consider it appropriate for students to conduct clinical clerkships as electives. For example, explaining how you spend time on the ward rounds, in clinics or in the community will not satisfy programme requirements resulting in a "fail". HOWEVER, clinical experience IS ENCOURAGED within the elective should that opportunity arise but it just cannot be your full project – use it as an opportunity to gain experience!