Optional Elective Placements

The purpose of the Optional Elective program is to provide medical students with an avenue to gain additional clinical experience during the MD Program. Approved students undertaking an Optional Elective placement are covered by UQ's travel, public liability and indemnity insurance. Optional Electives are not a compulsory component of the MD curriculum and students are not assessed during their placement. The placement will not be noted on the students' academic record.

Note that this is separate to the Year 4 Personalised Learning (Elective) Course. For further information on the Year 4 Elective course, please see the Year 4 PLC Elective page.

Guidelines

Location

Optional Elective placements in Year 1 & 2 are only permitted to be undertaken in Australia and are strictly observership experiences only.
Optional Elective placements in Year 3 & 4 can be undertaken anywhere in the world, noting DFAT and LMIC restrictions as outlined in point 7 below, and may be clinical or non-clinical in nature.
Optional Elective placements cannot be completed at Ochsner Clinical School (OCS) or at any UQ Clinical Unit, except the General Practice Clinical Unit on approval. Students are not permitted to contact clinicians at UQ Clinical Units regarding Optional Elective opportunities.
Students who wish to undertake an Optional Elective placement at any General Practice in the greater Brisbane area are required to seek approval from the UQ General Practice Clinical Unit (med.gp@uq.edu.au) prior to contacting the General Practice.
Students are not to contact clinicians from Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service facilities, as they do not accept students for out of curriculum placements.
Students interested in undertaking a placement at a UnitingCare facility, including Wesley Hospital, St Andrew's War Memorial Hospital, Buderim Private Hospital or St Stephen's Hospital in Hervey Bay, need to contact UnitingCare Clinical School in the first instance (medical.school@uchealth.com.au) and are not to contact clinicians directly.
DFAT 3/4/0 and Low-Middle Income Countries
To ensure the health, safety and wellness of students and to ensure UQ meets it's duty of care obligations, authorised travel is not permitted to countries/regions rated by DFAT Smart Traveller as:
- Level 3 (reconsider your need to travel)
- Level 4 (do not travel)
- Level 0 (where no advice has been issued by DFAT Smart Traveller)
- Low-middle income countries (LMIC), or below, as defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Conditions

To be eligible for an Optional Elective placement, you must be an enrolled student in the MD program and have no misconduct issues.
Optional Elective placements may be undertaken over the summer break. If you are in your final year, the placement must be completed by your graduation date.
The placement must be in a health/medicine-related field.
You must meet the entry requirements for the institution you are applying to.
Students are responsible for all costs related to the optional elective placement.
The placement must be supervised by a qualified health professional.

Important Information

Optional Elective placements are considered Unpaid Work Experience placements by the Education (Work Experience) Act 1996. Optional experiences must meet the below criteria:

Unpaid Work Experience placements cannot exceed more than 30 days (240 hours) in one calendar year.
If you completed an Optional Elective placement during the last Christmas break and a component of that placement was in the current calendar year, this will count towards the max number of 30 days you can complete this year.
If your placement spans over 2 calendar years (i.e. December to January) you must submit a separate application for each component in each calendar year.
If you have completed any other Unpaid Work Experience placements in the same year as your application, these placements will also count towards the 30 day limit.

Note that in addition to Optional Elective placements, a number of other optional placement opportunities are also considered Unpaid Work Experience placements, including but not limited to:

IMPORTANT TRAVEL REQUIREMENT

Registering with UQ International SOS

A reminder that UQ requires all students undertaking placements both domestically and internationally that involve travel more than 50km away from their usual place of residence, and require an overnight stay, must register with International SOS (ISOS).

International SOS provides UQ travellers 24/7 pre-departure medical, safety and security information and advice. International SOS will also provide both routine and emergency assistance when UQ’s people are travelling. All UQ travellers should carry International SOS's contact details with them whilst travelling in case they need assistance during their trip.

Please note that the Placements team will monitor any travel warnings prior to your departure to ensure that the placement location is still suitable. You should also familiarize yourself with information on the Student OHS site.

Detailed step-by-step information can be found on the UQ travel website.

UQ Travel Insurance

As a UQ student on an approved placement you are eligible to be covered by UQ's public liability, professional indemnity and malpractice insurance during the dates specified on your submitted application form. Please refer to UQ Insurance Services for full details of the benefits, terms and conditions.
Remember that it is your responsibility to submit the forms as required. If you would like conduct private travel before or after your placement, please seek additional insurance advice.

Application Process

Step 1 - complete required forms

Download and complete, with your placement provider the UQ Unpaid Work Experience Application Form and Placement Provider Details form. Ensure form is signed by you and the provider, either electronically or in print out format.
Completion of this form is required for you to be covered by UQ's insurance whilst on placement.
If the placement is international, please complete and sign the Student International Placement Declaration Form

Step 2 - request approval by UQ for Unpaid Work Experience

Open the UQ InPlace dashboard.
Click to open the Self Placement submission located in your ‘To Do’ section. You can only undertake 30 days of work experience per calendar year. If you have reached the 30 day limit you will no longer be able to see the Self-Placement submission for Unpaid Work Experience option on your dashboard.
Add the required information to the submission in InPlace (your signed Unpaid Work Experience PDF form will have much of this information).
Upload your forms as one document:
a) Placement Provider Details form;
b) UQ Unpaid Work Experience Application form
c) Student International Placement Declaration form (if placement is international)
Submit.

Your submission will then be considered for approval by the Faculty and further advice will be provided to you.

Helpful notes:

If the host institution requires the Faculty to complete an application form, please contact med.placements@uq.edu.au
Students may also be requested to submit additional documents to the host organisation - please see 'Additional Documents' below for further information on where you can obtain these documents.

Additional Documents

Students may be requested to submit additional documents to the host organisation. The following provides a guide as to where you can obtain some of the documents -

Document	Contact	Timeframe (Working days)
Confirmation of Enrolment	Request via myRequests on My.UQ page. Further information can be found here.	Approx. 3 days
Academic Transcript		Approx. 3 days
Letter of Good Standing*		Approx. 7 days
Letter of Endorsement**		Approx. 7 days

* This Letter will be issued only to students who are currently in good standing with the University, who have achieved an average GPA of 4.5 and above and have a clear conduct report. Students must wait for the release of official results before obtaining this letter.

** A Letter of Good Standing is not available until after Semester 1 grade release, therefore in its place we can provide a Letter of Endorsement

Proof of Insurance- By completing UQ's Optional Elective process, it means the student will be covered by insurance. Details of this insurance can be found under the Insurance website. Please note: students returning to their home country will be protected for malpractice, public liability and travel insurance (excluding medical and evacuation cover).

Opportunities

INTERNAL OPPORTUNITIES

Year 1 MD (Non-Ochsner) students may apply for one of the below Optional Elective opportunities:

TROHPIQ Rural Elective Experience Scholarship (TREES) with the support of the Mayne Academy of Rural and Remote Medicine (Application dates: 30 June to 21 July)
Towards International Medical Equity (TIME UQ) Goondir partnership – see website for dates

PAH Year 3 ED Clinical Immersion Opportunity

The Princess Alexandra Hospital Emergency Department stands as a prominent trauma centre and one of the most active emergency facilities in Australia. We are excited to offer the chance for 8-10 UQ MD candidates to participate in a two-week immersion program spanning from November 18^th, 2024, to January 5^th, 2025.

This opportunity is open to current MD3 students and to MD4 students who plan to continue their enrolment into 2024. Successful candidates will be paired with either a Senior Health Officer or a Registrar and will share their 40-hour work schedule for a duration of two weeks. During this period, participants will work closely with a physician who actively manages patients, patient records, and medication charts, and will have the opportunity to assist in medical procedures.

We encourage applications only from candidates who can fully commit to all eight shifts within a two-week timeframe, which includes night shifts, public holidays, and weekends.

Please bear in mind that to apply, you must submit a comprehensive CV highlighting your previous clinical experience and indicating your availability for a consecutive two-week period starting on any Monday from November 18^th, 2024. The last period will start 23^rd December, 2024.

If you have any questions, please contact Dr Rob Eley r.eley@uq.edu.au.

Applications will open Monday, 30 September at 0900 and close by 1700 Friday, 1 November, 2024.

Apply Here

EXTERNAL OPPORTUNITIES

External providers can express interest in providing opportunities for UQ MD students. These placement opportunities are not organised and specifically endorsed by the Faculty but may be of interest to students. Details can be found below for students to investigate further.

UQ Healthy Living (UQHL)

UQ Healthy Living is an over 50’s allied health facility that leads the way in harnessing the collective benefits of interprofessional care. The first of its kind, UQHL is a multidisciplinary service promoting longevity and wellbeing, resourced by students, supervised by leading clinicians, and supported by cutting edge technology. This unique synergy delivers affordable, quality care that considers a patients physical, mental, and emotional needs, while educating tomorrow’s clinicians in a collaborative, innovative environment.

Interested medical students will not only gain a deep level of understanding of the scope of practice for physiotherapists, psychologists & physiotherapists, but also gain an appreciation for how allied health and primary/specialist care can work collaboratively for improved patient outcomes.

Tasks and Responsibilities

contribute to clinical case conferences with allied health clinicians and students
participate in the daily student interprofessional meeting
attend intake assessment appointments and co-facilitate certain sections of this assessment under supervision
contribute to collaborative decision-making to ensure appropriate treatment recommendations for UQHL clients
observe a range of allied health appointments
observe a range of allied health programs (My Health for Life, Good Living with Arthritis Denmark, LiveWell group exercise for diabetes)
assist with cardiac observations (blood pressure SPO2, heart rate) prior to and post cardiac rehabilitation exercise sessions.

To learn more click here.

To apply please contact Brad McGregor (Clinical and Operations Manager)

b.mcgregor@uqhealthcare.org.au.

Opportunities to commence from Semester 1, 2023.

Wynyard Medical Centre

Wynyard Medical Centre is a general practice located in Wynyard, Tasmania that has previously hosted observership students. Interested students are asked to contact Dr Roland Ark with cc to office administration