Planning an Elective? Let our friends at The Electives Network make it easier!

By PaddyGreen14 January 2012 - 4:38pm

The Electives Network is a non-profit organisation that was started in 2001 by Dr Gordon Hamilton, then a medical student at Oxford University. Dr Hamilton was keen to go on elective somewhere completely different and found it very difficult to get any information on remote clinics. So he came up with the idea of contacting hospitals and forming a database of hospitals, complete with profiles, feedback reports, on the ground information to help students when they get to the location and direct contact details for the elective co-ordinators and administrators. The Electives Network was born.

We’ve come a long way since the initial idea took hold in 2001 and now The Electives Network is a comprehensive tool to help students plan their elective. We have details for over 2,500 hospitals around the world complete with feedback from students who have worked at the hospital on elective, and so can provide a great resource for others hoping to follow them. We run regular competitions for the best photo, best piece of feedback and best case study and send out regular elective newsletters to let students stay up to date with how best to plan their elective and the tools available to help make planning a bit easier.

We also now work with several elective providers and offer a “Something Different” option for students who are not sure what they want to do with their elective. The elective providers organise everything for students, including accommodation and transport to the hospital they will be working in and the “Something Different” opportunities help students find a type of elective, ranging from prison work to humanitarian and adventure opportunities. This range of elective options on The Electives Network is unparalleled and with staff on hand 24/7 to answer any questions and help with any queries and problems arising during the planning phase, The Electives Network really is the ultimate tool to help you plan your elective.

The really good news though, is that access to The Electives Network in the UK is free. We are sponsored by the Medical Defence Union, which enables medical students signed up with the MDU to get access to our resources by logging in with their MDU membership number. So, if you have an elective coming up, why not sign up to The Electives Network at www.electives.net and get your hands on all of the tools we have (not to mention our years of experience) to help you make planning your elective a much easier task.

Sarah Winstone

Website Editor and Content Developer