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Home — Clinical — Student Placements

Student Placements

Thank you for your interest in joining Essex & Herts Air Ambulance (EHAAT) for your Student Selected Component (SSC)/elective placement.

ARE YOU ELIGIBLE FOR AN SSC/ELECTIVE PLACEMENT?

Before you apply, please make sure you meet all the eligibility criteria below:

  • You are a student paramedic or medical student (year 4 onwards) and registered with a recognised university.
  • You are available for a four-week continuous period, forming part of your official course curriculum.
  • You hold a current DBS within 3 years of DBS date.
  • Medically fit.
  • If you are a medical student with Royal College of Surgeons (Edinburgh) and Aarhus University Denmark, EHAAT has developed student focus links with the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care, you will need to apply through your university.

During the SSC/Elective placement, students can expect to:

  • Learn about the provision of helicopter emergency medicine in the UK.
  • Take part in daily training exercises with the duty crew.
  • Complete observer shifts on the rapid response car with the duty crew. These shifts are night shifts (subject to availability; internal training takes priority).
  • Attend and take part in governance meetings to discuss cases that students and the teams attend.
  • Present a case study or journal club at a crew meeting or open clinical governance session.
  • Complete an audit or other project on an element of HEMS work.
  • An opportunity to undertake an observer shift with East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) and/or EEAST Hazardous Area Response Team (HART).
  • The opportunity to support and attend fundraising and clinical initiatives for EHAAT.

General Information:

  • The use of a car is a necessity as both air bases are remote with limited public transport links.
  • At the completion of your elective placement, we require you to complete a feedback form and final debrief meeting.
  • Due to the rapidly evolving environment that we work in, we may occasionally need to adjust placements at very short notice.
  • If selected, you will be provided with a comprehensive elective guide.

2027 Student Elective Dates

Please check the dates below to ensure your availability before completing the application form:

Dates Closing dates for applications
Monday 22nd March — Sunday 18th April 2027 Closing Tuesday 10th November 2026
Monday 12th July — Sunday 8th August 2027 Closing Wednesday 10th February 2027
Monday 23rd August — Sunday 19th September 2027 Closing Wednesday 10th March 2027
Monday 22nd November — Sunday 19th December 2027 Closing Saturday 10th July 2027

Previous students have presented posters relating to their projects at national and international medical conferences and have submitted journal articles relating to their SSC at EHAAT.

Due to the rapidly evolving world that we work in, we may occasionally need to adjust placements at very short notice.

Please note that we are unable to accept direct applications from students at Aarhus University and the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care at The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. Students from these Universities who wish to apply for an elective placement at EHAAT must contact their department responsible for organising elective/SSC placements.

ENQUIRIES

If you have any questions on your eligibility or anything else to do with the SSC/Elective placements before completing your application below, please contact electives@ehaat.org

 

Student Elective Application

Please fill in the form below to submit your application.

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Please be assured your details will not be passed on to third parties for their own use but only to support the charitable objectives of Essex & Herts Air Ambulance.

You can opt out of receiving these communications at any time by calling 0345 2417 690 or unsubscribing from any email communication we send you.

Student placement inspired Chris to become an Air Ambulance doctor

In 2010, Chris King was one of the first two medical students to spend time with Essex & Herts Air Ambulance (EHAAT), gaining first-hand experience of the charity’s life-saving work. The experience left such an impression on him that Chris was determined to return one day as a fully qualified doctor. Chris achieved his goal in 2019, joining EHAAT as a Pre-hospital Care Doctor, and today he inspires the next generation of prehospital care providers.

Speaking of his return to EHAAT, Chris said: “I was thrilled to return to EHAAT nearly a decade after I was lucky enough to train with the charity as a medical student. Opportunities to gain any pre-hospital experience back then were extremely limited, but the team were so welcoming and really inspired me to learn more about caring for critically ill patients. I was training as an anaesthetist, waiting for the day I could return to EHAAT as a flight doctor.”