Medical elective clinical placements

Medical elective students wanting to undertake placements in a Queensland Health facility need to organise these through one of the below public Queensland universities with a current medical school program and an established Student Placement Deed with Queensland Health.

Please contact the relevant Queensland universities directly for further information:

Rural Immersion Placement Program – Allied Health (RIPPAH)

Allied health students interested in undertaking a placement in rural and remote Queensland should apply through the Rural Immersion Placement Program – Allied Health (RIPPAH).

Clinical observerships

Clinical observerships include experiences such as:

  • a health professional employed by a private health provider attending Queensland Health to observe the use of new equipment or a new procedure/surgical technique
  • a medical student attending a facility outside of their required clinical placement to observe different specialties to inform their own specialisation
  • a school or university student attending a Queensland Health facility to observe the environment and inform their decision to follow a health career pathway
  • other similar experiences where professionals or students are attending a Queensland Health facility to observe a process, procedure, or environment, and not be part of direct patient care.

Clinical observerships are not covered under the terms of the clinical Student Placement Deed. The decision to accept clinical observerships is entirely at the discretion and agreement of a Hospital and Health Service/Department of Health, so the documentation and preparations for these arrangements are set locally (with the exception of legislatively-mandated orientation modules). Should you wish to discuss options for a clinical observership, please contact the relevant Hospital and Health Service/Department of Health.

Research-only placements

Research-only placements include experiences such as:

  • a student interested in surveying patients regarding their health histories or experiences
  • an epidemiology student looking at the long-term outcomes of a particular treatment or medication
  • other similar experiences where professionals or students are seeking access to identified or deindentified information regarding specific or wholistic treatment methods and outcomes.

Research-only placements are not covered under the terms of the clinical Student Placement Deed. These students require different coverage for access to information, ethics approvals, and intellectual property, and do not have the same clinical supervisory requirements of other clinical placement students to which the Deed applies. Research-only placements should be negotiated between the education provider and the Hospital and Health Service/Department of Health.

Work experience

Hospital and Health Services may, at times, support secondary student work experience. Your best contact for work experience opportunities is your school careers officer.

Should a Hospital and Health Service accept you for work experience, they may require insurances to be held and orientation to be undertaken. Each Hospital and Health Service and/or facility may have different requirements.

Last updated: November 2023