ABSTRACT
Electives have been a feature of medical education in the UK since the 1970s. Typically they last between 6 and 8 weeks and take place during the final 2 years of a 5-6-year medical course. This chapter explains that neither the potential benefits of this were being capitalised on, nor were real concerns about possible harms being addressed. It was against this background that the Medicine in Malawi Programme (MIMP) was conceived and developed at Dundee Medical School. In addition to student exchanges detailed below the opportunity for the development of parallel links with clinical and associated health professionals arose. This involved providing funding for some local training courses for Malawian anaesthetic staff and also visits by two medical physics technicians from Dundee to support maintenance of equipment. The marked the formal end of the MIMP as such and it evolved into the "Responsible Electives" initiative, which allowed applications from students from other universities.
