From autumn 2024 the main clinical subjects of this semester will be obstetrics, gynaecology, paediatrics, infectious medicine, skin diseases/veneral diseases, plastic surgery and rheumatology. The subjects are taught primarily through three types of learning activities: lectures, PBL sessions and clinical clerkship. A typical week might look like this:

There are 16 weeks of learningactivities, and each week is a mix of all three learning activities. After these 16 weeks there will be a short period of selfstudy before the exams.

Autumn: Learning activities will normally be in weeks 34 to 49. The last exam will normally be in week 51.

Spring: Learning activities will normally start in week 2 or 3. There will be no learning activities during easteholidays. Last week of learningactivities will normally be week 19. In spring term the date for the exams varies due to coordinating with other exams at the faculty, but the exams will normally be no later than week 23. 

You need to check the exact dates before buying a return ticket!

Lectures

Each week there will be lectures on Mondays and Fridays. There will be lectures in the main clinical subjects mentioned above, and in connection with the main clinical subjects teaching is given in microbiology, pharmacology, pathology and diagnostic imaging.

Lectures are optional, but we strongly recommend that you participate.

PBL Sessions

Students are assigned to groups consisting of 6 to 8 members who work together in PBL (Problem Based Learning) and attend the same clinical clerkships. The groups meet for a weekly 3-hour PBL session, facilitated by a clinician from their current clinical clerkship. The PBL work centers on given case studies relevant to the field of medicine covered in the lectures and clinical clerkships.

All PBL-sessions are mandatory.

Clinical clerkship

Every week, each PBL group will be assigned to a department for "clinical clerkship". In the clerkship, students accompany doctors for in- and out-patient visits, physical examination, tutorials and case-studies. The elements of the clerkship vary between departments. In the English semester we have a rotating schedule for the clinical clerkship. Students will meet the same subject/departments several times during the semester. The table below shows the amount of time spent in each subject by the end of the semester.
 

In addition to the organized clerkship, students may join doctors on call at any time.

Attendance in clinical clerkship is mandatory.

Exam

At the end of the semester there will be a written and an oral exam. The written exam is 4 hours and consists of 100-120 multiple choice questions. The oral exam is OSCE-based (Objective Structured Clinical Examination).

These exams cover all subjects from the semester. Students will need to attend the regular exam at the end of the semester regardless of what they have taken previously (at their home university) if they wish to achieve the 30 ECTS credits for their stay at NTNU.

Students must pass both exams (written and oral) to pass the semester and achieve the ECTS credits.

Please note that we only give one grade for the whole course, and we do not give separate grades to all the subjects in this course.

All clinical rotations are organized through The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, and students apply to NTNU as regular exchange students.

Students are not allowed to contact St. Olav's University Hospital in Trondheim to organize clinical rotations on their own.

All students must register for one or more courses each semester to be considered an active student at NTNU.

Who can apply?

Only students from partner institutions can apply for clinical rotations at NTNU/St. Olav's University Hospital. 

Due to limited capacity, NTNU/St. Olav's University Hospital do no longer accept Praktische Jahre students.

Application deadline

Autumn semester: April 1st

Spring semester: October 1st

All applications are processed after the application deadline.

Semester dates

Autumn semester: September 1st to mid-December

Spring semester: Beginning of January to mid-June

Course certificate

At the end of their stay, students can order a Transcript of record for the passed course(s). This is done through Søknadsweb. On request, students may get documentation of which clinic(s) they have attended and the duration of their clinical rotation(s). Further documentation is not offered.

The courses have no exam, only attendance is required. The courses are graded as pass or fail.

Departments that offer clinical rotations to exchange students:

• Surgery
• Internal medicine
• Orthopedics
• Neurology
• ENT (ear, nose and throat)
• Opthalmology
• Oncology
• Rheumatology
• Paediatrics

Students participate in the daily work at the department. There will be no lectures/seminars/exam.

Additional information about clinical rotations

• Clinical rotations are arranged individually for each student outside the regular medical curriculum. The number of available places depends on the capacity in the departments.
• Each student is offered clinical rotations in maximum three (3) departments per semester.
• Clinical rotations must take place within the semester dates. We do not accept any students for clinical rotations during the summer (mid-June to mid-August) or Christmas holidays.
• All clinical rotations must start on a Monday.
• It is preferable that students speak a Scandinavian language. However, English is usually accepted for all departments but Paediatrics. No place is guaranteed until the Faculty coordinator has made all the necessary arrangements with the department. There is limited capacity, and it is not always possible to accommodate all applicants. If you are not accepted one semester, NTNU encourages you to apply again for another semester.

How to fill out your Learning Agreement

In your Learning Agreement, you fill in the course code, subject and preferred start date

Example: