BEIT TRUST MEDICAL ELECTIVE BURSARIES - 2010

For electives taking place between 01 April 2010 – 01 April 2011

The Beit Trust is delighted to announce a competition for bursaries for medical electives in Southern Africa. This is the fifth year the competition has run and up to a dozen bursaries of around £600-£800 per student may be offered to selected applicants. In order to be eligible you must be undertake a minimum of eight weeks elective in Zambia, Malawi or Zimbabwe as part of your course.

If you would like to be considered for a bursary please complete and return the attached form along with a statement of no more than 500 words on why you wish to be considered and what you feel you would contribute. You should make sure that you include the proposed dates of your elective, the country and, if possible, the name of the Hospital where your elective will take place. The scheme will be run by the Medical Schools Council and applications should be made by email to or by post to Medical Schools Council, Woburn House, 20 Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9HD. The deadline for receipt of applications is Monday 1 March 2010.

Successful applicants will be informed by Wednesday 24 March 2010 and, on return to the UK, will need to submit an illustrated report of no more than ten sides of A4 on their time and experiences in Africa, as well as some proof of the costs of their trip.

In making your application you may find it useful to consider the following points made by the Beit Trustees:

-  rural clinics and hospitals usually provide better and more demanding hosts than the major state-run teaching hospitals in large cities

-  the elective must be spent entirely at one establishment (but may include visits to local field outstations within the same hospital catchment area)

-  ideally the visiting student should take with him or her at least a small supply of personal medical essentials, like gloves, masks and goggles

-  electives abroad can be lonely experiences – you may have a more enjoyable experience if you choose to travel with another student

-  It is felt that longer electives allow for the fact that students often take the first two weeks to get over the culture shock of a new and impoverished medical system. It has been found that after the initial shock students gain in confidence and usefulness rapidly thereafter

-  students are often asked to carry out medical procedures – and teach them – at a level they have not before experienced. Hands-on application, not mere personal study – is key to a happy and highly fulfilling elective in southern Africa

More information about the Beit Trust and the Medical Schools Council can be found at http://www.beittrust.org.uk/ and http://www.medschools.ac.uk/ respectively.

If you have any further queries please contact Jocelyne Aldridge at or tel. 020 7419 5522.

BEIT TRUST MEDICAL ELECTIVE BURSARIES - 2010

For electives taking place between 01 April 2010 – 01 April 2011

APPLICATION FORM

Please return your completed application form along with a statement of no more than 500 words on why you wish to be considered and what you feel you would contribute by email to , by post to Medical Schools Council, Woburn House, 20 Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9HD or by fax to 020 7380 1482. The deadline for receipt of applications is Monday 1 March 2010.

PERSONAL DETAILS

Title: …………………………………

First name: ………………………………………………………………………………………

Surname: ………………………………………………………………………………………

Date of birth: …………………………………

Address: ………………………………………………………………………………………

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Email address: ………………………………………………………………………………………

Telephone No.: …………………………………

University: ………………………………… Year of study: ……………………………

REFERENCE

Please provide details of one referee who must be someone known to you in an academic context at your current place of study.

Title: …………………………………

First name: ………………………………………………………………………………………

Surname: …………………………………………………………………………………………

Context in which the referee knows you:

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Address: ………………………………………………………………………………………

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Email address: ………………………………………………………………………………………

Telephone No. …………………………………