Dr Saskia Loysen reflects on her life-changing medical elective experience in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe, where she embarked upon four weeks of wilderness and expedition medicine training.

Anna recounts her adventurous 2016 undergraduate medical elective. Travelling first to Nepal to work in an urban hospital and remote health-camp, then leaving the heat for the cold of the Arctic Circle to get a flavour of Norway’s world-class pre-hospital care system.

Emily is an FY1 doctor in Chesterfield, after graduating from Nottingham Medical School in 2017. She spent her final weeks of medical school on elective in Rotorua, working in their Emergency Department (ED) and taking advantage of New Zealand’s rich culture and great outdoors.

Dr Mille Wood recounts her amazing medical elective experience with World Extreme Medicine in Fiji.

The University of Edinburgh APEX 5 organising team, and Adventure Medic Student Rep Rebecca Trimble, reflect on their work investigating the impact of hypoxia and altitude on a research trip to Bolivia in 2016.

Tom Bennett, our 2017 Elective Competition winner, on his elective, and trip of a lifetime, to the north of India, with the Himalayan Health Exchange.

Looking for an elective that allows you to truly escape? Prepare to be inspired by Arav Gupta’s South American ski & boat combo.

Combining research with attitude and altitude: read our follow-up Q&A on a medical student research trip to Morocco with Sam Covins.

If you’re going to arrange your own research expedition, you might as well make it somewhere incredible. Medical student Sam Covins tells us of his experience on a research trip to the Atlas Mountains.

Medical Student Elective Prizes in the fields of Conflict and Catastrophe Medicine.