Placement FAQs

Questions about your placement answered

We want to prepare you in the best way possible, so here are some commonly asked questions from our students.

Q: Where will my clinical placement be located? 

We place students in Nottinghamshire or Derbyshire. Within each city there are a number of hospitals which you will rotate around. You will stay in your allocated placement city for the 3 years of the programme.

Q: What time does placement start and finish?

You will participate in a full shift roster which will include nights, lates, early shifts, long shifts and weekend working.

Q: I have caring responsibilities (e.g. for young children). Will I be guaranteed a placement near to home?

We must emphasize that there is absolutely NO guarantee of a specific placement being allocated to you. You must consider the worst case scenario and assume you may be placed in the city furthest from your home ‘base’ - even if you have children or caring responsibilities. When accepting an offer from us we will assume that you have done these calculations and that you can and will travel to placement (or live closer to placement, depending on your circumstances).

Q: Will I get any help towards travel expenses for placement?

It will be your responsibility to pay for and organise travel accordingly. Some students are able to claim some placement travel costs back (via the NHS bursary) but this is means tested and will vary from student to student. Please bear in mind that travel is not cheap these days, you will have to budget for travel costs even if you can claim those costs back - because there will be an up-front cost.

For more information on placements, please contact Sue Errett - s.errett@derby.ac.uk