Medical Students undertaking a leprosy project during their elective period.
It is the policy of LEPRA to encourage medical students who wish to undertake a leprosy assignment overseas. Occasionally we have funded physiotherapy students or students taking a BSc in nursing. Below are some examples of LEPRA funded electives:

LEPRA does not consider much benefit can be derived from brief appointments to leprosy hospitals, as it takes several months to arrange a suitable assignment. Therefore students who have arranged their own placing will be considered first for funding, although this will not preclude those who have not from being considered. Great care is taken to ensure that the student can make a worthwhile contribution and will fit into the life and work of the overseas institute to which attached.

Students wishing to apply for LEPRA's support must submit -
1. A completed application form (this can be downloaded by clicking here)
2. An outline of the specific work they wish to undertake for assessment by LEPRA's Medical Advisory Board
3. A copy of the candidate's curriculum vitae
4. A confidential report form the applicant's tutor, indicating the student's capacity and capability to undertake the work and giving any additional information
5. A letter of acceptance from the institution to which they will be attached during their elective period (if appropriate)

It is appreciated that some universities and other organisations offer grants to help students during their elective period, and these must be indicated so that they can be taken into account when assessing a LEPRA award. Such awards usually cover travel by the most economic way and basic subsistence at the place of work.

The St. Francis Leprosy Guild also provide funding for elective students and they can be contacted at:

St Francis Leprosy Guild,
26 Inglis Road,
LONDON,
W5 3RL
Tel: 020 8992 0799

Students applying for a LEPRA study award should, if possible, submit their request six months before their elective period to: Programmes Department, LEPRA, 28 Middleborough, Colchester, Essex CO1 1TG or by E-mail to Programmes@lepra.org.uk. If there is a reasonable possibility of an award being made, an interview is likely to be arranged, probably in London, with one or more members of our Medical Advisory Board. It is stressed that leprosy projects will be given priority as LEPRA's funds are strictly limited.

If accepted for a LEPRA grant, students will be required to provide a report on their work within eight weeks of their return, and also hold themselves available to be interviewed by a member of LEPRA's fundraising staff. Any elective student preparing work based on their LEPRA supported project must first have the manuscript checked by LEPRA before submitting it for publication.

2008 Essay Competition.
A £1,000 Prize Fund is offered by LEPRA who invite entries from registered Medical Students in the United Kingdom for this year's Essay Competition. Entry requires neither clinical experience nor original work; essays will be most welcome from students in the junior years of medical study. Candidates are expected to summarise published work on either of the above subjects, and to review it critically, recording their own comments in the form of a discussion. Entries should be typed on A4 paper, and should be of not more than 10,000 words. References should be included as in scientific journals. The competition closing date is 30th April 2008.

Entries should be submitted to:-

Yasmin Entwistle - 2008 Essay Competition,
LEPRA,
28 Middleborough,
Colchester,
Essex,
CO1 1TG

All entries must include the candidate's full name, home address, University and year of study.

The subjects of this year's competition are:-

"Self care is an increasingly important concept in the patient-centred management of chronic illness - discuss its relevance to leprosy"
or
"Discuss ways in which the magnitude of the leprosy problem can be estimated, what are the strengths and weaknesses of the various methods?"

Prizes of up to a total of £1,000 will be awarded at the sole discretion of the judges.

A full sized poster giving full details of the competition may be downloaded by clicking here.