Visiting Medical Electives
Trinity College Dublin (TCD), School of Medicine coordinates a Summer Visiting Electives Programme with our two principal affiliated teaching hospitals, St James's Hospital and Tallaght University Hospital, both located in Dublin. Although priority is given to students from our academic partner universities where an affiliation agreement or MOU is in place, a limited number of clinical electives are allocated to direct applicants each year. All applicants must be registered as a medical student and have completed 3 years of a medical degree programme including a minimum of 1 year clinical training by the time the elective takes place.
NB: all visiting students will be required to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 including a booster shot and to follow the Covid policy and infection control procedures in place at our teaching hospitals.
Any offer of a place will be dependent on public health guidelines in place at that time.
- Visiting Electives Period: June-August only
- Minimum Duration: 2 weeks
- Maximum Duration: 4 weeks
Requests for electives of longer durations or at other times of the year will not be accepted. We are not currently in a position to accept visiting students as part of the Erasmus Traineeship programme.
Applications for Summer 2024 closed on 30th April 2024. Applications for summer 2025 are expected to open in January 2025 for a limited time only. Interested applicants must submit all required application documents to the new online TCD School of Medicine Clinical Elective Application portal before the closing date. We are not in a position to process applications received outside of the application period. There will be a non-refundable Application Fee of €50 charged to all applicants and an Acceptance Fee of €100 charged to those that are offered a place. As places fill quickly, it is advisable to start preparing required documentation such as immunisation form, blood tests and police vetting within 6 months in advance of the opening date to they will be ready to upload on time.
Students may apply for a clinical elective in the specialties listed below. We are not in a position to confirm the number of elective places available in each department in advance of applying.
Department of Clinical Medicine:
- Cardiology
- Dermatology
- Emergency Medicine
- Endocrinology
- Gastroenterology / Hepatology
- General Medicine
- GUIDE (Genito Urinary Medicine and Infectious Diseases)
- Internal medicine & Clinical Pharmacology
- Medicine for the Elderly
- Neurology
- Nephrology
- Oncology
- Palliative Medicine
- Physical & Rehabilitation Medicine
- Respiratory
- Rheumatology
Department of Surgery:
- General Surgery
- Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery
- Orthopaedics
- Radiology
- Plastic Surgery
- Urology
- Vascular & Endovascular Surgery
- Anaesthetics & Pain Medicine
- ENT
- Cardiothoracic
- Colorectal
- Upper GI
- ICU
Other Departments:
- Gynaecology (limited places) - only open to students who have already completed this specialty as a core rotation in home university
- Psychiatry (limited places) - only open to students who have already completed this specialty as a core rotation in home university
NB.: It is not currently possible for visiting students to apply for electives in Paediatrics or Public Health & Primary Care
TCD students: Please refer to the internal application process available internally on Blackboard.
Visiting Students:
Applications for our visiting elective programme summer 2024 will be open from 10th April – 30th April 2024. Only complete applications will be processed.
Applications received outside of these dates will not be processed.
Visiting Elective Application Form – to be completed online on the new TCD School of Medicine Visiting Elective Application portal
- Interested students register their name and contact details on the new online application portal.
- Student will receive an email inviting them to create a log-in account to commence their online application.
- A passport size photo taken within the last 6 months will be required to be uploaded in PDF/Jpeg format.
- Home University Approval Form to be completed by the Dean or Designate of your medical school (see Required Application Documents below)
- Immunisation Form 1 B to be completed by your GP/Family Doctor/College Health Services and accompanied by blood test results taken within the past 6 months.
- Once all required documents are submitted and the non-refundable application fee of €50 is paid, applications will then be reviewed by the School of Medicine and forwarded to the relevant hospital department for allocation of places according to capacity for the requested dates.
- The hospital department will contact applicants to let them know the outcome of their application within 8 weeks from receipt of your application.
- If your application is successful, you must confirm your acceptance within 7 days, pay the non-refundable Acceptance Fee of €100 and provide proof of Personal Health Insurance Cover for the duration of your stay in Ireland.
- The hospital department hosting your elective will contact you by email before your starting date to confirm the arrangements for the first day of your elective.
- Students currently registered in the clinical years in an Irish Medical School in Ireland already meet the Irish medical school’s council requirements for immunisation and police clearance to be allowed on the wards of Irish teaching hospitals. These students may alternatively submit a Certification of Immunisation and Garda Clearance letter provided by their university (UCD, RCSI, NUIG, UL & UCC)
It is not possible to provide a status update on the progress of your application during the application period. Please do not call to check on the status of your application. If you have a question, please review the information on our website before contacting our office.
All queries must be submitted by e-mail to vismedel@tcd.ie. Please do not contact hospital departments.
To apply for an elective, applicants must submit all of the documents listed below by uploading them to their online Application. Incomplete applications will not be processed.
- A passport sized photograph to be uploaded online in the space provided.
- Home University Approval Form
- Elective Form 1B Immunisation Record Mobility Online (MS Word 90kB) must be completed in full by your doctor or university health centre. Please note that ALL sections of the form must be completed and laboratory reports dated within the previous 6 months must also be attached.
- Police Clearance Report: Students working in a clinical setting are obliged to undergo police vetting procedures prior to applying for an elective - please contact the police in your home country/current country of residence. In the case of medical students registered in another Irish university, in lieu of a police certificate, we are happy to accept a Garda clearance letter from your medical school stating you were cleared for entry to the medicine programme.
- Insurance: Proof of Liability and Malpractice Insurance provided by your home university (if available).
- Proof of Personal Health Insurance which will cover you during your stay in Ireland can be uploaded at a later stage and must be submitted at the time of acceptance of any offer of a place.
- Proof of English language proficiency: If English is not your first language or if you are not undertaking your medical studies through English, then you must submit proof of competence in the English language. Details of the English language tests accepted by TCD are available here.
- Brief Curriculum Vitae and a Personal Statement, outlining why you are applying to take part in the Elective programme and how this elective will contribute to your personal and professional development
- Original Academic Transcript from your home university, showing the modules/subjects you have taken since year 1 and the grades obtained. This must be printed on the headed paper of your university and signed and stamped by the university.
Please note that all documentation must be in English or accompanied by certified translations into English.
Please scan all original documents and upload them as PDF attachments to your online application.
A non-refundable application fee of €50 will be charged to all applicants at the time of application. Successful candidates who are offered a place will be charged a non-refundable acceptance fee of €100 to confirm their place.
It is the responsibility of the visiting student to cover all costs in relation to their time in Dublin and to make their own arrangements for travel and accommodation. TCD does not provide any remuneration for electives at our affiliated teaching hospitals.
Accommodation is not provided by the teaching hospitals and cannot be arranged by the School of Medicine. Information about short-term accommodation in Dublin is available on: https://www.booking.com/ and http://www.daft.ie/
Finally, it is each student's responsibility to inform themselves about visa and immigration regulations. Students are advised to apply for visas as soon as possible after accepting an elective offer and to make sure to bring originals and photocopies of all visa and immigration documents in their hand-luggage when travelling to Dublin airport.
If you are interested in applying for a clinical elective in summer 2024, please follow this link to submit your application:
