Undergraduate medical education

We provide support to many ARU medical students, spanning from year 1 to year 5. Each hospital site has established specialised teaching programmes tailored to each year, catering to the specific needs of medical students at each stage of their academic journey.

• Year 1 – students interact with patients learning excellent bedside manners and communication skills.
• Year 2 – students acquire essential clinical knowledge and skills through one-on-one problem-solving methods.
• Year 3 – students become more integrated with medical teams through a clerkship programme, preparing them for their future roles as clinicians by exposing them to core medical and surgical specialties.
• Year 4 – students are encouraged to independently assess patients and discuss their findings through case-based discussions with clinicians.
• Year 5 – students are prepared to assume the roles of safe and competent foundation doctors through a range of tailored teaching programmes. They are assigned to work alongside F1 doctors, shadowing them for an extended period until they transition themselves to F1 doctor roles.

Additional opportunities consist of (but are not limited to):

• Basildon Clinical Teaching Fellow (BCTF) programme - based at Basildon, incorporates essential medical and surgical topics utilising a simulation-based teaching approach.
• Tuesday Tea – based at Broomfield, this innovative wellness initiative allows students to meet with clinical teaching fellows to reflect on their time on placement, voice any concerns, and provide feedback and ideas.

Any questions?

If have any questions, please get in touch with us  at

• Basildon Hosptial -  sarah.nevin2@nhs.net and emy.haggar@nhs.net
• Broomfield Hospital -  mse.medical.students@nhs.net
• Southend Hospital -  mse.medical.education.suhft@nhs.net

Testimonial - ARU Medical Student who is now a Foundation Doctor

The transition from Year 5 to Foundation was made easier due to my placement experience within the Trust. I was able to see first-hand how junior doctors work and was allowed to prepared notes and scribe during the consultant ward rounds.

I was also able to attend vascular MDTs with consultants from multiple disciplines discussing cases which we normally don't get to go to as F1s now (as the wards are so busy) as a final year medical student which meant we were able to get a flavour of that specialty during our medical student placements.

Overall, I had such a great experience of a medical student and as the seniors always say (and which I attest to now is true!), you get out what you put in - depending on how much effort you are willing to put in, you will get that much out. So stick around after ward rounds if you want and ask the SHOs all the questions you want about doctoring life!

We also work closely with ARU to host Physician Associate students for placements in general medicine, general surgery, paediatrics, emergency medicine, and obstetrics and gynaecology.

This includes induction, regular teaching programmes and virtual reality simulation. We supervise and support students to complete their quality improvement projects, as well as mentoring and providing pastoral care to the PA students during their secondary care placement with our senior physician associates.

If you are a PA student and have any questions, get in touch:

• Basildon Hospital - sarah.nevin2@nhs.net
• Broomfield Hospital - denise.shepherd4@nhs.net and fiona.mearns2@nhs.net
• Southend Hospital -  mse.medical.education.suhft@nhs.net.

Broomfield and Southend both offer placements for Barts and the London Medical students.

Students undertake placements in years 3, 4 and 5 and are offered hospital accommodation during their time on placement.   

• Year 3 - under the tutelage of the clinical teaching fellows, we will support students during their first hospital placement to make sure they obtain the basic skills in history taking, clinical examination, interpretation of clinical data and clinical reasoning.
• Year 4 - students will attend specific specialities such as paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, medicine for the elderly, rheumatology and trauma and orthopaedics whilst being supported by the clinical teaching fellows.
• Year 5 - learning around the care of acutely ill patients. Students attend two blocks; the first consisting of eight-weeks attachments to perioperative medicine and the second with four week attachments.

If you are a medical student studying at QMUL and have any questions, please get in touch:

• Broomfield Hosptial - mse.medical.students@nhs.net
• Southend Hosptial - mse.medical.education.suhft@nhs.net.

Testimonial – BARTS Year 5 student

The placement was amazing. The teaching fellows were very enthusiastic and we benefited a lot from their teaching. On placement teaching and feedback from the doctors was also great, and I was observed clerking patients and doing lots of practical procedures. The placement definitely helped me with my confidence and my skills have improved drastically.

Basildon offers placements for UCL medical students.

In their fifth year, up to 100 students undertake their placements in paediatrics and obstetrics and gynaecology, and in the final year up to 90 students are offered placements yearly. Final year students attend 12-week placements in Medicine, Surgery and Emergency Medicine. 

The students engage in a variety of District General Hospital (DGH) rotations. Final year students also participate in the Preparation for Practice Assistantship following finals. Throughout their time at the hospital, students typically reside in on-site hospital accommodations.

In addition to their clinical experiences students benefit from an educational programme which includes simulation and virtual reality (VR) training sessions, core teaching sessions delivered by experienced consultants, a twilight teaching program, and weekly bedside teaching sessions. These educational opportunities are carefully designed to support the students in their preparation leading up to their final exams including the Clinical and Professional Skills Assessment (CPSA), previously known as the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) conducted every March.

To better prepare students for this crucial assessment, the education department provides mock CPSA exams to all final-year students, offering valuable feedback on their performance before the final summative CPSA.

Dr Sarah Bennett, Deputy MBBS Programme Lead at UCL, praised the high quality organisation of the final CPSA exams held at Basildon Hospital, thanking the team for their:

Hard work, dedication, and kindness…. showed to our students, during the Year 6 OSCE...

Any questions?

If you have any questions, contact j.adetona@nhs.net

Testimonial – from UCL student following simulation CTF teaching:

Engaging session! Enjoyed going through the A-E - helped us to improve our structure and confidence. Also thought it was useful to go through the guidelines at the end and I feel more comfortable with these scenarios if they came up on OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination).

Elective medical students are students who are not associated with our Trust and come from the UK and all over the world.

We offer medical students in their final year the opportunity to undertake electives spanning between four and six weeks.

There is a charge to undertake electives and interested students must apply to just one site.

Interested?

If you are interested, please apply to one of the hospitals below:

• Broomfield Hospital - mse.medical.students@nhs.net
• Southend Hospital-mse.medical.education.suhft@nhs.net.

Please note that Basildon Hospital is currently unable to offer any medical elective opportunities. 

Testimonial

It has been amazing! Really wonderful team and supportive environment.