Placements

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Detailed information about specialties within which placements will be available between 1 September 2025 - 31 August 2026.

Cardiovascular Medicine

Elective placements are available in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, based at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. The clinical department is a busy centre with all cardiology and cardiothoracic facilities available and the unit takes cardiology referrals from nearby district hospitals for invasive procedures, surgery or expert management. There are many opportunities for learning from patients within the unit, in addition to observing specific procedures such as cardiac catheterisation/stenting, trans-oesphageal echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, permanent pacing, electrophysiological testing and radiofrequency ablation, and cardiac nuclear imaging.

Oxford University medical students are present in the department at various times throughout the year, for a period of two weeks each. During these periods, there are tutorials for all students in addition to the clinical experience outlined above.

Due to the demand for places and the need to accommodate students, usually only one Elective student can be accepted at a time, for a maximum of two months. Elective students participate with the Oxford students and can be supervised. Research can be undertaken but this would require prior specific arrangement with the research team.

• The Elective placement will take place at the John Radcliffe Hospital.
• Elective placements run for a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 8 weeks.
• Elective students must participate with Oxford students and be supervised.
• Elective students will spend time in theatre, outpatient clinics and on the wards.

The Immunology service in Oxford consists of Clinical and Laboratory Immunology, together providing a comprehensive range of learning opportunities for the student.

Clinical Neurology / ophthalmology

Clinical Neurology

A regional neurology referral centre with associated neurosurgery, neurophysiology, neuroradiology, neuropathology and neuropsychology departments in addition to general neurology clinics. A variety of services are provided including: Muscle, Peripheral Nerve, Motor Neurone Disease, Movement Disorders, Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke and Epilepsy Clinics.

The University Department of clinical neurosciences (Head: Professor Kevin Talbot) contributes to a student teaching programme in Year 5 (2nd clinical year) of the Medical Student programme under the supervision of the Director of Neurology teaching: Dr G. DE Luca. Elective students can join the monthly medical student teaching programme. 

• The Elective placement will take place at the West Wing, John Radcliffe Hospital.
• One Elective student only can be attached to the Department of Clinical Neurology for four to eight weeks, but not during the month of June, when no teaching takes place.
• Elective students must participate in the same rotations/attachments as Oxford students.
• Elective students will spend time in theatre, outpatient clinics and wards.

OPHTHALMOLOGY

The Oxford Eye Hospital is based in the West Wing, John Radcliffe Hospital and is a busy academic unit that deals with general ophthalmic diseases, as well as sub-specialty services. There are eleven consultants, each with their own sub-speciality interest but there is a retinal bias within the department, with 7 retinal consultants. Both clinical and laboratory research are ongoing in the department.

There is an Ophthalmic A&E Department, Optometry Department and Orthoptic Department. The modern eye theatres have audiovisual facilities which allow detailed viewing of microscopic procedures. The retinal imaging department has state of the art equipment.

Most students are taught on an individual (one doctor: one student) basis. The Elective student timetable is flexible to allow individual students to pursue their goals. 

• The Elective will take place in the West Wing, John Radcliffe Hospital.
• Elective students can be attached to the Oxford Eye Hospital for a maximum of ten weeks.
• Elective students are taught on an individual basis.

Emergency Medicine

Applicants must have a particular interest in Emergency Medicine.  All applicants are welcome but priority is given to students from a country in which Emergency Medicine is not a recognised specialty.

The electives take place in the John Radcliffe Hospital and are of a duration to suit the student.  Students are welcome within the Emergency Department and will also have the opportunity to attend Tutorials and other teaching sessions with the Oxford students.

Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine

The Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine (NDM) is part of the Clinical School in the Medical Sciences Division of the University of Oxford.

Led by Professor Chris Conlon the Department contributes to the teaching of 320 medical students in the Clinical School and provides one third of the clinical support of acute general medicine in the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Clinicians work in the John Radcliffe, the Churchill and Horton Hospitals. The Department also contributes to orthopaedic medicine at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre.

Students in Acute General Medicine will have the opportunity to study alongside Oxford clinical medical students in their first and final clinical years. This provides the chance to follow medical patients throughout their hospital stay from acute admission in the new Emergency Department, through the Emergency Assessment Unit to the wards and finally as outpatients. As a major teaching hospital a wide range of general and specialist input is provided as well as maintaining a strong scientific, evidence based approach to clinical medicine.

• The Elective placement will take place at the John Radcliffe Hospital.
• Elective students can be attached to the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine for a maximum of eight weeks.
• Elective students will participate with Oxford students in rotations, seminar presentations and attachments.
• Elective students will spend time in outpatient clinics and on the wards.

Nuffield Department of Surgery

The Nuffield Department of Surgery incorporates General Surgery (consisting of Colorectal, Upper GI, Hepatobiliary, Breast and Endocrine), Head and Neck, Vascular, Transplant Surgery, Urology and Cardiac Surgery.

• Elective students will be based at the John Radcliffe and Churchill Hospitals.
• The maximum number of weeks for an Elective placement is eight weeks.
• Elective students must participate with Oxford students.
• Elective students will spend time in the operating theatre, outpatient clinics and on ward based activities.

If you want to spend your Elective placement in Surgery please state on your application form which speciality you would like to be allocated to. However, it is not guaranteed you will be allocated to the particular speciality.

PSYCHIATRY

Oxford medical students undertake a seven week course in Psychiatry in the penultimate year of their medical degree. Psychiatry teaching is delivered in collaboration with Clinical Neurosciences as part of a larger 14-week Brain and Behaviour Module. Two weeks of seminar teaching are followed by 4 x 3-week clinical placements which alternate between psychiatry and neurology. On Fridays, students participate in lectures, tutorials and seminars. Placements are available in all subspecialties of psychiatry with the exception of medical psychotherapy. 

Clinical attachments in psychiatry are linked to an individual mental health team. These teams cover a specific geographical area in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Bath and North East Somerset and activities will include inpatient care, outpatient care and community assessments. Elective students will be attached to a clinical team in the same way as home students, but there may be opportunities for research as well as additional, more focused study.