Medical Student Electives
**Elective places are CLOSED for 2013**
**Elective places are CLOSED 22 March 2014 – 5 September 2014**
Note: Electives are NOT available between October and the end of January.
2014 Electives
Limited places are available between:
27 January - 21 March 2014, and
8 September - 3 October 2014
Sydney Medical Program (University of Sydney) students
Students enrolled in the Sydney Medical Program who are interested in completing an elective (between 4-8 weeks duration) at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead (CHW) should email with:
Your name:
Clinical School:
Requested elective dates (start and finish)
Other medical students
Undertaking Clinical Electives at the Children's Hospital at Westmead
The Children’s Hospital at Westmead (CHW) welcomes applications from international and Australian medical students wishing to undertake an elective term with us.
Please note: Only students in their final year of study, or close to their final year, and where the elective is a required component of their medical degree, will be considered.
In most cases, approved applicants for clinical electives will join our regular students undertaking clinical attachments.
Duration of an Elective
Elective placements at The Discipline of Paediatrics & Child Health and any of its affiliated teaching facilities are for a minimum of four weeks and a maximum of eight weeks. We do not accept students during the Summer Holiday period (mid-December to early February).
The experience is "elective" in that it does not fulfill requirements in the student's own course for experience in a specific discipline. We cannot allocate elective students to the one team/specialty for the length of the elective. Students will be placed with various teams.
Refer to the Sydney Medical School Policy on overseas elective students - PDF
Expressions of Interest
Please make sure the dates in which you are interested in applying for an Elective are OPEN.
Requests for placement in months that are now CLOSED will not be considered.
If a period in which you are interested is open, you may lodge your expression of interest for a clinical elective via email to giving specific details of the date range/s in which you are interested.
Direct approaches to individual departments within the Hospital will not be accepted.
Specialties
Electives are available at the Children's Hospital at Westmead in the following areas of paediatrics:
- Anaesthesia
- Cardiology
- Clinical Genetics
- Emergency
- Endocrinology
- Gastroenterology
- General Medicine
- Haematology
- Infectious Diseases
- Intensive Care
- Neonatology
- Neurology
- Oncology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopaedics
- Rehabilitation
- Surgery
General information
Student concession for public transport
Concessionial travel for overseas students is not available on NSW public transport. The NSW State Government policy states that only students who are registered full-time in NSW are eligible for a concession on public transport. Inspectors do regularly check tickets and will give on-the-spot fines.
Dress code
As a medical student you will be involved in day-to-day interactions with patients, members of the public and medical staff. These interactions may involve discussion of sensitive issues and the performance of a range of clinical duties. Thus, while attending the ward, clinics or general practice, your dress and general appearance should be appropriate.
As a guide, a medical student must appear well groomed and professional at all times. Your official hospital ID badge must be displayed prominently at all times so that your status as a student is clear.
Males are expected to wear a collared shirt (no tie). Females are expected to dress modestly, avoiding tops that are low-cut or which bare the midriff. Short skirts are also inappropriate.
Trainers and jeans are not acceptable items of clothing. Sandals or open-toed shoes are inappropriate for clinical areas as sharp objects such as dropped needles may pierce the foot.
Theatre scrubs can only be worn within designated areas and are provided by the hospital where required.
While Australia is not a very formal place, you need to remember that our society is a very multicultural one and what could be offensive to others should be taken into consideration.