Independently Organized Placements

All self-organized international NPSE’s must be approved by both the UME Office and the Schulich Internationalization Office. Students who are not enrolled in MED5010 or MED5040 during their time away are not protected by Western University’s general and professional liability insurance.
Students in Year 1, Year 2 or Year 4 may apply for an independently-organized International & Health Equity Learning placement to a location/organization that is not a Schulich partner. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and are thoroughly reviewed by the Undergraduate Medical Education Office and the Schulich Internationalization Office.

Students in Year 1 or Year 2 may not depart for travel prior to the last curricular session in June and must return before the start of the first curricular session in August/September.

All applications must be submitted using the form below at least 90 days prior to planned departure. Late applications (with a planned departure date within the next 90 days) will not be accepted.

All summer school applications must be submitted as Independently-Organized placements. Please take some time to review our International Summer School Options, particularly Radboud University where the summer programs have a large number of courses focused on health-related topics. Radboud Summer School finalizes their summer school program list in January.

Please note, the following important points regarding applying for an independently-organized placement:

  • You must have approval from your proposed partner site. This includes a letter of support on headed paper (or via a departmental email address) of your preceptor confirming that they agree to host you during the dates within your application, for the departments that you are proposing.
  • Your preceptor must live in the country you plan to travel to and be employed at your proposed host site.
  • You must have a schedule that you plan to adhere to, which you must share as part of your application
  • Western adheres to a student safety abroad policy. If your planned destination is within a Level 3 or Level 4 Destination (High and Extreme risk), it may not be authorized.
  • Approval is not guaranteed.
  • If your host destination requires a letter of support from Schulich, please email the Internationalization Office, as this can be provided to you, should your placement be approved

If you have questions about applying for an independently-organized placement, please contact the Internationalization Office.