Self-arranged stay abroad
Study Board for Medicine
Teaching language: English
EKA: S150126102
Censorship: Second examiner: None
Grading: Pass/Fail
Offered in: Odense
Offered in: Autumn, Spring
Level: Master
Course ID: S150126101
ECTS value: 15
Date of Approval: 29-10-2025
Duration: 1 semester
Course Title
Course ID
S150126101
ECTS value
15
Responsible study board
Date of Approval
Course Responsible
| Name | Department | |
|---|---|---|
| Ditte Søndergaard Linde | dsondergaard@health.sdu.dk | Klinisk Institut |
| Erik Jørs | ejoers@health.sdu.dk | Klinisk Institut |
Teachers
Course secretary
| Name | Department | City | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Karoline Vahle Olesen | kvolesen@health.sdu.dk | SUND Uddannelse, Studieadministration |
Offered in
Level
Offered in
Duration
Aim and overall content
This is self-arranged stay abroad that involves a self-arranged clinical placement at hospital in a foreign country or a self-arranged internship in a foreign country.
Specific purpose clinical placement abord [elective A]
The students can arrange a clinical placement in any foreign country (8 weeks). The specific purpose of the clinical placement is to strengthen the students’ clinical knowledge, skills and competences in health provision and clinical medicine in other countries than Denmark. The students will enhance their clinical skills by working in a healthcare setting that differs for the Danish healthcare context. The clinical placement will strengthen the students’ understanding of different cultures and traditions for understanding diseases, treatment and/or prevention, and create awareness of the differences/challenges in disease patterns and health service provision around the world. This will contribute to the student’s knowledge and skills of how medical science and clinical practice advances on a continuous basis, both from a local and global perspective.
Specific purpose and overall content of internship [elective B]
The students can arrange an internship at an NGO or international organisation in a foreign country, e.g., at the UN, WHO, World Bank, etc. The specific purpose of the internship is to get hands-on experiences with global health and international development issue and apply scientific knowledge in practice, e.g., project management, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects. For example, students may be involved in conducting surveys, analyse data, participate in health education campaigns, and engage in community health initiative or international initiatives. This elective will contribute to the student’s understanding of continuously maintaining and further developing one's own knowledge.
The internship has to be a minimum of 8 weeks, though it can be longer if it is a requirement for the organisation. However, it will not increase the number of ECTS if the students choose an internship that is longer than 8 weeks, e.g., an internship from Aug-Dec or Jan-Jun.
For an in-depth description of how this course contributes to the overall competence profile of the programme, please see the competency matrix. Here you will see the connection between the learning objectives for each course and the competence profile of the programme - see here.
Mandatory prerequisites
Having passed at least 80 ECTS on the master’s degree program as well as the mandatory clinical placements
before the start of the 5th semester
Relationship between the learning objectives, type of teaching and type of examination
With a self-arranged stay abroad, students can add an international perspective to their profile as a medical doctor, which will bridge the gap between global health theory and practice in a clinical and non-clinical setting. The exam documents the students’ active engagement in the field and the main take-aways/learning from their stay abroad.
Learning Objectives - Knowledge
For the clinical placement:
- Have knowledge of the most common, local disease patterns and health challenges.
- Have knowledge of the local health system.
- Have knowledge of preventive and curative health activities.
For the internship:
- Understand how to carry out specific work-related tasks/functions within the specific project or healthcare area.
- Explain and exemplify appropriate research methods and approaches within a specific research project/specific healthcare initiatives.
Learning Objectives - Skills
For the clinical placement:
- Cooperate with healthcare professionals under conditions, which are markedly different from those experienced in the Danish health system.
- Diagnose and propose initial treatment for the most common diseases treated at the hospital.
- Reflect on the differences between the health care system in the foreign country and Denmark and the reasons for this.
For the internship:
- Participate in practical tasks, including contributions to the development, administration and/or management of projects within the healthcare field.
- Plan, develop and conduct activities in relation to a healthcare project in a real-life context.
Learning Objectives - Competencies
For the clinical placement:
- Demonstrate professional conduct in relation to the patients and colleagues in adherence to local customs.
For the internship:
- Be able to organise, execute, assess, and adjust work tasks and structure one’s own learning.
- Manage and contribute to the development, implementation, and evaluation of health projects/activities in a real-life setting.
- Collaborate interdisciplinary in public health-related initiatives with relevant stakeholders on local, national, or international level and adherence to local customs.
Teaching format and feedback
Teaching is organised in such a way as to support the SDU’s Underlying principle for active learning and activating teaching, as well as the Faculty of Health study’s translation of this principle - the FAIR principles.
The following forms of instruction and work may be applied in the clinical placement: Clinical training, observation.
The following forms of instruction and work may be applied in the internship: Dialogue, discussions, site visits, active participation, independent studies
Time of classes
September-October/November, February-March/April.
Number of lessons
MySchedule
Teaching language
Expected student workload in this course
15 ECTS is equivalent to 412,5 working hours.
The working hours are distributed between the activities listed under Forms of instruction, work and feedback as well as the exam including the preparation of this.
The students' workload is expected to be distributed as follows:
- Self-study/preparation for lectures: 74 hours
- Clinical training or internship (8 weeks x 37 hours): 296 hours
- Preparation for the exam: 39,5 hours
- Exam activities: 3 hours
Examination regulations
Portfolio and oral presentation
Name
Portfolio and oral presentation
Time of examination
Exam: The portfolio will be filled in during the clinical placement or internship. The oral presentation will be held at the end of course (in January/June) at SDU campus, Odense, Denmark.
Reexam: March (Autumn semester), August (spring semester).
Tests
Portfolio and oral presentation
EKA
S150126102
Name
Portfolio and oral presentation
Description
The examination consists of two parts:
- A portfolio with learning objectives that must be filled out by the responsible mentor, supervisor, doctor etc., during the clinical placement/internship.
- A 10 min. individual oral presentation and 5 min. questions from the course coordinators and peers (all medical students who have been abroad on the 5th semester and other students interested in global health or considering going abroad on the 5th semester of the Master of Medicine). The exam will be held at SDU campus, Odense, at the end of the semester in Denmark with the possibility to present online if enrolled in Esbjerg.
For the clinical placement, the presentation should focus on the main take-aways/learnings from the student’s clinical placement and overall stay in a foreign country. The presentation can focus on a particular clinical case, differences in certain practices, cultural differences, management, treatment, journal system, outpatient care, etc. The presentation must include a comparison of the differences between the foreign and Danish practices.
For the internship, the presentation should focus on the main take-aways/learnings from the internship and overall stay abroad. The presentation can focus on a particular research project, a certain project activity/event/initiative, how research projects are planned, carried out and evaluated, or how a health NGO/international institution manages projects and relations with different stakeholders. The presentation must include a description of how the student structured their own learning and which research methodologies/scientific knowledge their used during the internship. The students should also make a brief description of the country/healthcare setting of the clinical placement or international organization and why this was selected.
All students, should expect provide feedback and ask questions to everyone’s presentations.
Form of examination
Portfolio with oral defence
Censorship
Second examiner: None
Grading
Pass/Fail
Identification
Full name and SDU username
Language
English
Length
Examination aids
Not relevant for this type of test.
ECTS value
15
Additional information
Considering the method of assessment and the current study level, specific emphasis will be put on the extent to which the student´s performance meets the learning objectives as well as to what extent the student masters the general competence objectives mentioned in the curriculum,
The Pass/Fail assessment reflects if the student properly understands the general and discipline specific competencies.
Reexamination takes place in the same way as the ordinary examination.
External comment
The self-arranged stay abroad (15 ECTS) must be accomplished in the same semester as the master’s thesis (15 ECTS) unless the student is enrolled in a pre-graduate research year. During the pre-graduate research year, the self-arranged stay abroad is conducted at the beginning of the semester, after which the student continues with their pre-graduate leave and completes the following semester with the master's thesis. More information can be found on Graduate school's website.
Courses offered
| Offer period | Offer type | Profile | Education | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2026 | Optional | Forskningsprofil - Optaget 1. februar 2023 | Master of Science (MSc) in Medicine | Odense | |
| Spring 2026 | Optional | Forskningsprofil - Optaget 1. september 2022 | Master of Science (MSc) in Medicine | Odense | |
| Spring 2026 | Optional | International profil - Optaget 1. februar 2023 | Master of Science (MSc) in Medicine | Odense | |
| Spring 2026 | Optional | International profil - Optaget 1. september 2022 | Master of Science (MSc) in Medicine | Odense | |
| Spring 2026 | Optional | Kandidatuddannelsen i medicin - Optaget 1. februar 2024 | Master of Science (MSc) in Medicine | Odense | |
| Spring 2026 | Optional | Kandidatuddannelsen i medicin - Optaget 1. februar 2025 | Master of Science (MSc) in Medicine | Odense | |
| Spring 2026 | Optional | Kandidatuddannelsen i medicin - Optaget 1. februar 2026 | Master of Science (MSc) in Medicine | Odense | |
| Spring 2026 | Optional | Kandidatuddannelsen i medicin - Optaget 1. september 2023 | Master of Science (MSc) in Medicine | Odense | |
| Spring 2026 | Optional | Kandidatuddannelsen i medicin - Optaget 1. september 2024 | Master of Science (MSc) in Medicine | Odense | |
| Spring 2026 | Optional | Kandidatuddannelsen i medicin - Optaget 1. september 2025 | Master of Science (MSc) in Medicine | Odense | |
| Spring 2026 | Optional | Klinikprofil - Optaget 1. februar 2023 | Master of Science (MSc) in Medicine | Odense | |
| Spring 2026 | Optional | Klinikprofil - Optaget 1. september 2022 | Master of Science (MSc) in Medicine | Odense |
Kassograms
Derogation from the general rules for cancellation
Cancellation of registration for this course is not permitted from the start of the semester and 21 days onwards, where cancellation is generally allowed. Therefore, registration for the course will be binding. Reference is made to the Collection of Rules for University of Southern Denmark regarding registration for course elements and exams § 5, section 3-5.