Supervisors

Local Supervisors

All students are required to find a local and host supervisor for their elective project.  The local supervisor can be based in Aberdeen or one of the local peripheral hospitals and would normally be a consultant or GP principal but senior trainee grade may also be appropriate.  If the student is planning on undertaking the elective in Aberdeen the roles of local and host supervisor will be combined.

The electives convenor speaks to the students at the beginning of fourth year (May - approx 9 months before deadline) to explain the elective process including giving them the deadline.  Students are encouraged to start planning their elective from then and are given access to the electives handbook and website which gives them a lot of guidance on how to plan their elective.

Your role is to

  • support students to develop their elective ideas
  • advise students about electives
  • may be able to provide contacts
  • talk through the subject
  • requires to see and “sign off” the elective outline
  • liaise with the student on any changes to the project after initial submission

We have included below what you should be able to expect from the student

  • Before meeting with you, the student should have been considering potential elective ideas and have a rough idea what they would like to do and possibly where.
  • Started reading through the available literature on the subject and prepared ideas about the questions addressed, how it may be tackled and how data may be analysed.
  • Following initial discussions start writing the elective outline for feedback from you
  • Forward the elective outline for “signing off” in adequate time before the deadline
  • It is not appropriate for the student to expect you to come up with all the plans and write the outline for them, but they should look for guidance when appropriate
  • It is not appropriate for them to make initial contact with you 2 days before the deadline and expect a project
  • Please bear in mind, students who are planning to intercalate between 4th & 5th year will still be required to complete an outline, but may need to delay the start of it by a year.
  • The main aim of the elective is an opportunity for the student to show their skills and abilities in planning and writing the project.  Therefore the majority of the work should be completed by them.

The elective outline will be submitted online and after discussing the suitability of the project, you will be sent a link to “sign off” that you are happy with their proposals.  This must be completed by the 7 March 2025. It is the student’s responsibility to arrange this with you.

After submission of the outline all students will be required to attend an interview to check they have considered all aspects of the project.  On occasion the elective interviewers may ask the students to make some changes to their projects or to attend a second interview.  The student may require additional support in making the changes.

The students are all provided with an electives handbook and should be able to provide you with a copy of this.   

You can see below the guidance provided to the host supervisors on the elective process.

Should you have any questions about the elective process please contact Year 5 Team:

Diane Gerrie: diane.gerrie@abdn.ac.uk
Tel +44 (0) 1224 437777

Mr Pragnesh Bhatt: year5@abdn.ac.uk

 

Host Supervisors

All students are required to find a local and host supervisor for their elective project.  This will normally be a few months before they are likely to be going on elective as they are to submit their proposals to the office by the 21 February 2025.

There may also be instances where the student’s original plan may have fallen through and we would appreciate any assistance you can provide in helping them arrange an alternative.

The host supervisors role is to

  • Help the student plan their elective project, ensuring they are realistic about what they can expect ie number of patients, access to records, any language barriers, health & safety etc
  • Advise the student on whether local ethical approval is likely to be required
  • Discuss any possible ideas they may have as a project
  • Provide day to day “supervision” whilst they are on elective
  • Where available advise students on possible sources of accommodation, local information etc
  • Advise student on local elective application process eg if they need to apply through linked university
  • Keep the student informed of any change in circumstances, such as change of project, job or closure of host institute
  • Provide the University of Aberdeen with very brief feedback on the students performance

You can see above the guidance provided to the local supervisors on the elective process, including our expectations of the students.  We have the same expectations of our student’s behaviour whilst on elective as we do when they are in Aberdeen. 

The students are expected to complete an elective report at the end of the project.  This will be submitted approximately 5 days after the end of the elective period.  Where appropriate, we would normally recommend the student sends you a copy of their final report.

Should you have any questions about the elective process please contact Year 5 Team:

Diane Gerrie: diane.gerrie@abdn.ac.uk
Tel +44 (0) 1224 437777

Mr Pragnesh Bhatt: year5@abdn.ac.uk