All applicants for clinical elective placement must follow the process below. No elective placement arrangements are to be made directly with hospital doctors. Due to the program’s increased popularity and the demand on the hospitals by increasing local student numbers, placements are not offered in all disciplines. There is also no guarantee an offer of placement will be made.

The process is broken down into steps. Although the final supporting documentation is not required to be completed until the applicant is informed of their success, if applicants wish, they may commence gathering the required documentation in anticipation.

Reminder: all documentation must be in English.

1. Placement block dates made available and applications open. Applications will remain open until 6 weeks before the start of a placement block. All applications for each placement block will be reviewed once applications are closed.

2. Students complete the online application form, upload the required supporting documents and pay the application fee (unless not required by our policy).

Supporting documentation

(Refer Supporting Documents for the appropriate forms  and further information)

Applicants are required to upload the below supporting documentation:

• Letter of Recommendation
• Academic Record – current
• Curriculum Vitae – current

AND

• Clinical Elective Placement Indemnity and Insurance Forms

OR

• Not applicable - the applicant’s University has a Placement Deed with Queensland Health

Application fee

$100 AUD non-refundable unless not required by our policy.

3. Applications are reviewed and communication is held with the various hospitals. Hospitals advise the College of Medicine and Dentistry placement availabilities.

4. All applicants for the relevant placement period will be emailed advising the outcome of their application.

5. If successful, the applicant:

• confirms their acceptance by return email;
• pays the placement fee, if applicable, within seven days from receipt of email; and
• submits the further supported documentation as outlined in the Placement Requirements section of this website within seven days OR by at least one month prior to the placement commencement date (whichever is soonest).

Letter of Recommendation

The Dean of the College of Medicine and Dentistry (or designate) is to support the student’s application. This should take the form of a letter on official University letterhead. The letter will:

• outline that the student is enrolled in a medicine/dentistry course
• is recommended for the clinical elective placement
• include an assessment of the student’s academic and clinical abilities
• include an outline of the student’s training at the time of the application.

Academic Record

The student’s academic record is considered when processing the application.

Curriculum  Vitae

Details of the student’s employment and qualifications will be considered when processing the application.

Clinical Elective Indemnity and Insurance

• Form 1a ‘Clinical Elective Placement Indemnity Form’
• Form 1b ‘Declaration by the Dean of Medicine of the Students’ University’
• Form 2a ‘Clinical Elective Placement Acknowledgement and Declaration – Home University’
• Form 2b ‘Clinical Elective Placement Acknowledgement and Indemnity Form – Student’
• Public Liability Application Form  - Medicine Students
• MIPS – Medical Indemnity Protection Insurance

Ensure to carefully read through the information below to  identify which forms you must provide.

JCU requires indemnity and insurance for the applicant. Option A (Form 1a and Form 1b) is preferred and desirable however if this is not possible then the student must complete Option B (Forms 2a and 2b). Option C relates to select Australian University students only.

Option A - Preferred

The student’s university agrees to indemnify and insure the student. The applicant and their university MUST complete and sign the following forms:

• Form 1a ‘Clinical Elective Placement Indemnity Form’
• Form 1b ‘Declaration by the Dean of Medicine of the Students’ University’

The Clinical Elective Placement Indemnity Form requires the applicant’s university to hold adequate public liability insurance (AUD $20,000,000.00) and medical indemnity insurance (AUD $20,000,000.00) to cover the student whilst on the placement.

The applicant must provide a copy of their university’s policy/certificate of currency for each type of insurance.
Requirements regarding insurance policies:

1. Overseas Certificate of Currency should be written in English.
2. If the amounts in the Certificate of Currency are in foreign currency, the equivalent of these amounts must be specified in Australian Dollars.
3. The Certificate of Currency should specify the type of insurance for example, comprehensive public liability or medical indemnity insurance.
4. The Insurance Ratings should be shown in the Certificate of Currency. The acceptable ratings are AAA (High, Very Strong), or AA+ (High, Strong).
5. Policies must be confirmed if “occurrence based”

NOTE: If the above requirements are not clear from the policy/certificate of currency, the Clinical Electives Coordinator will request the applicant to ask their university to provide written confirmation from the insurer itself.

Option B - Compulsory if Option A is not completed

The  student’s university is not able to insure the student on placement in Australia. In this instance the following forms MUST be completed in full:

• Form 2a ‘Clinical Elective Placement Acknowledgement and Declaration – Home University’
• Form 2b ‘Clinical Elective Placement Acknowledgement and Indemnity Form – Student’

The student MUST also take out the following Insurance:

• Public Liability Insurance from mediProtect ($20,000,000). The cost is $AUD381.00. Refer to Public Liability Application Form - Medicine Students.
• MIPS - Medical Indemnity Protection Insurance, which is free for students.

Evidence of this Insurance compliance MUST be uploaded in the supporting documents section on the application form.

Option C -  Exception (Australian University Students only)

If the indemnity form is not applicable because the applicant’s university has a Placement Deed in place with Queensland Health, then the applicant MUST tick the relevant box on the application form in the supporting documents section and organise with their university to complete and forward a QHealth Schedule to the appropriate QHealth District covering the applicant’s clinical elective placement.

Medicine placement locations and length

Placements are offered in a wide range of disciplines in Cairns, Townsville and Mackay. Every effort is made to accommodate your first preference, then second or third; however, there is NO guarantee of availability of clinical elective placements.

Various specialties are offered, however, as stated previously on this website, the placement of James Cook University students in north Queensland is a priority, therefore, there is NO guarantee of your chosen specialty being offered.

Read more about the placement hospitals:

• Cairns Hospital
• Mackay Base Hospital
• Townsville University Hospital

The minimum number of weeks for a clinical elective placement is four with the maximum being eight.

The University of Queensland Hospital manages placements south of Mackay. Please refer to their website.

Dentistry placement locations and length

Dentistry Elective Placements are offered in Cairns only, however, there is NO guarantee of availability of clinical elective placements. The dentistry clinical elective placements are four weeks.

Placement requirements

After accepting the offer and paying the relevant clinical elective placement fee (if applicable), applicants are required to email the following placement requirements to the Academic Services Officer, mbbselective.coordinator@jcu.edu.au.

Queensland Health requirements

Australian Applicants whose university has a Placement Deed with Queensland Health need to:

• Email the Clinical Electives Coordinator advising that your university has a Placement Deed with Queensland Health
• Organise with your university to complete and forward a Queensland Health Schedule to the appropriate Queensland Health District.

All students must complete the relevant Student Deed Poll before commencing a placement within a Queensland Hospital and Health Service.

• Student Deed Poll
• Overseas Student Deed Poll

These must be signed and given to the Placement Coordinator at your Queensland Health Hospital.

All Students must complete the Queensland Health Mandatory Induction Modules.  A certificate of completion will be provided at the end of the training module.  These must be provided to the Placement Coordinator at your Queensland Health Hospital.

All Students must comply with the Queensland Health vaccination requirements.

Proof of Immunity to the following:

• Hepatitis B
• Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR)
• Varicella (chicken pox)
• Pertussis (whooping cough) - evidence of booster vaccination if or when a period of ten years has elapsed since the previous dose
• Tuberculosis (TB): All students undergoing clinical placement in a Queensland Health facility must be assessed for their risk for tuberculosis. Please complete and return TB Risk Assessment Questionnaire.

All Students must complete the Queensland Health Student Orientation Checklist

Blue card

All Students must hold a valid Queensland Government Positive Notice Blue Card. Please provide a photocopy of valid blue card or complete an application below.

• Blue Card Application form 

Personal Accident Insurance

Please provide a copy of your Personal Accident Insurance to the Clinical Elective Coordinator

Clinical Elective Placement Checklist

Download the Clinical Elective Placement checklist here.

Students who are enrolled at a university in Queensland are exempt from the application fee and placement fee. There is a check box available during the online application process for this.

Application and placement fees for all other students:

• Application Fee:  $100 AUD
• Placement Fee:  $1000 AUD

Payment of fees

Payment of fees are made through the JCU payment portal. JCU only supports VISA or Mastercard transactions.

The application fee is a non-refundable payment of AUD $100. The payment is made during the online application process - you will be prompted to navigate to the JCU payment portal to pay this fee. This payment is not refundable under any circumstance once the application has been submitted and processed.

When the applicant receives an offer, the applicant has seven days to responds via email advising acceptance of the offer. Payment of the placement fee must be made at this time to confirm the acceptance.

Refund and cancellation policy

Application fee

The application fee is a non-refundable payment of $100 AUD.

This payment is not refundable under any circumstance once the application has been submitted and processed.

Cancellation of placement

Under certain circumstances, applicants may be able to apply for a refund of the placement fee via email mbbselective.coordinator@jcu.edu.au stating the reason/s for requesting the refund. The request will be considered and advice of the outcome will be emailed.

Read frequently asked questions about Clinical electives for non JCU-students here.