Elective in Oncology: Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre, Malta

Written by Sarah Lewis, 5th year medical student

Over the last 4 years at medical school, I have completed placements both within and outside of the NHS, and have been interested in the difference in healthcare systems globally. I am also interested in oncology in a future career path, so when the time came to organise my medical elective last summer, it felt the perfect choice to combine my two interests. My name is Sarah Lewis and I’m a 5^th year medical student at The University of Manchester. In this blog, I’ll share my experience undertaking a 4-week placement at Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre (SAMOC) in Malta, some things I learnt, and tips for anyone hoping to organise a similar elective. Of course, all medical students know that an overseas elective isn’t just about the studying – I’ll also include a few travel recommendations!

Why do an overseas placement? Why Malta? Why oncology?

Since a short primary care placement last year in the Isle of Man, I have found the differences in healthcare systems (however subtle) to be a fascinating topic. I think that stepping outside the NHS can allow us to better analyse our own healthcare system, recognise its achievements and weaknesses, and learn from the good practice of others. I would recommend any student that is able, to try and experience another healthcare system.

I specifically chose to do my elective in Malta for a few reasons. Firstly, I wanted to be able to speak to the doctors and understand some of the consultations because I felt that it would help me learn more, so I chose a country that uses English as an official language. Secondly, I had heard from older students and family members that The University of Malta’s elective programme was well organised, and from my research I found that it was possible to do my placement in oncology. Surprisingly, several international electives programmes that I researched do not allow you to select a specific specialty, rather you may be placed upon arrival, or rotate through several specialties. It was important to me that I could undertake a placement in a specialty I was interested in, and Malta’s programme allowed me to rank 2 other specialties in order of preference in case oncology was over-subscribed. Finally and more personally, I wanted to go somewhere I had never been before, preferably with warm weather, and it needed to be somewhere that I could afford. Malta ticked all of these boxes.

At my university, our clinical placement in oncology lasts just a week. I undertook this placement at the Christie in Manchester, which was an incredible learning experience. It was largely the reason that I wanted to do my elective in oncology – whilst I have been interested in the specialty since my preclinical years, I felt that a week’s experience was not enough to decide whether I wanted to pursue it as a future career. Additionally, the time I spent at the Christie was mostly outpatients based, and the clinics were very specialised. I knew that I would benefit from further experience in generalised oncology clinics, and wished to learn more about inpatient oncology as I had not done this during my placement.

Placement at SAMOC

SAMOC is a cancer centre which is interconnected with Mater Dei (Malta’s only public hospital). It consists of two adult oncology wards, a haematology ward, a paediatric ward, and a palliative care ward. Having discussed with my placement supervisor about wanting to observe some inpatient oncology, I was able to spend a few days per week shadowing the teams on the adult wards, as well as spending time in clinics and in the radiotherapy department.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
AM: Clinic PM: Clinic	AM: Radiotherapy planning PM: Ward	AM: Clinic PM: Clinic	AM: Clinic PM: Clinic	AM: Ward PM: Ward	AM: - PM: -

Example timetable of a week’s placement.

The average UK medical student might wonder why I have included Saturdays on my timetable – doctors in Malta generally work Monday-Saturday, 8am-2pm (though many of those that I shadowed stayed later than this) and my timetable mostly reflected this pattern. However, my supervisor kindly insisted that I should not attend on a Saturday and instead take time to travel and appreciate Malta!

I completed 4 weeks at SAMOC, and most weeks followed a similar structure. Mondays and Thursdays were mixed oncology clinics, with patients with various cancer types attending for follow-up of their condition. This was different to my experience at the Christie, where the clinics which I attended were dedicated to one/a few specific cancers, and were often quite specialised. In SAMOC it was very valuable to see the follow-up process for some of the more common cancers, such as prostate cancer which was usually most frequent on the clinic list. On Wednesdays I also attended clinics, but these were dedicated to consenting and reviewing patients on chemotherapy treatment. This is something which I had not covered in-depth during my oncology placement in Manchester, and it was very useful to review some of the pharmacology of chemotherapy agents as it was a topic I do not fully understand. Whilst I still have a lot of revision to do in this area, it was helpful to be able to ask questions and learn from a specialist. These clinics also increased my awareness of the side effects of chemotherapy drugs – some patients described how side effects were considerably impacting their quality of life, which served as a good reminder that no medication is risk-free, and how important it is to support patients to make treatment decisions which are right for them as an individual.

On Tuesdays and Fridays, I spent the majority of my placement hours on the adult oncology ward. It was interesting to speak to the resident doctors and learn about the healthcare system and training pathway for doctors in Malta. Like the NHS, Malta’s healthcare system is free at the point of delivery and funded through taxation. Another similarity is that junior doctors in Malta follow the same curriculum as the UK Foundation Programme, to which it is affiliated. Documentation on electronic health records is in English, however most patients spoke both Maltese and English. Several patients generously offered to speak in English for my benefit when I joined ward rounds and clinics, however I noticed that usually patients and healthcare staff spoke Maltese in conversations. This was not the barrier to my learning as I had originally expected it to be; many healthcare staff kindly translated for me, and I was still able to pick up on non-verbal cues during consultations, or observe clinical procedures and examinations on the wards.

Lessons learnt in Malta

Besides the things I have already mentioned, I learnt a lot about oncology during my elective placement. The follow-up clinics were great revision of the different cancer markers and their normal values, which I hope to remember as clearly when sitting my final exams later this year. I observed the radiotherapy planning process and how it varies depending on the site of cancer, and saw the different machines used which has made me more confident in speaking to patients about their treatment regimes. I saw some patients with rarer tumour types and those with less common symptoms or treatment side effects, which has furthered my awareness to how diversely patients may present in oncology. Overall, the elective greatly increased my exposure to the specialty, and has helped me further consider my future career choices. I know that even if I don’t end up pursuing a career in oncology, this knowledge will not be wasted – cancer is very prevalent and I will likely encounter it in many other medical specialties. In that case, this elective experience will enable me to be more confident in speaking to patients and better understanding their medical history. 

Travel recommendations

And now for the extra-fun part – a list of some of the best places I visited in Malta:

1.      Beaches: Sliema beach (local, rocky beach), Golden Bay (large sand beach with some resident parrots), and Ramla bay (beach on Malta’s neighbouring island, Gozo, with orange sand).

2.      Valetta – the capital city of Malta. It is small enough to walk around in a day, and busy enough to re-visit many times. St John’s Co-Cathedral is a beautiful church in the centre, and the Upper and Lower Barrakka gardens are great viewpoints both day and night. There is a busy nightlife and music scene – I visited some of the bars along Strait Street, and was lucky to see Malta’s 2024 Eurovision entry singing at a food festival at the end of my trip! 

3.      Gozo – a small island next to Malta, accessible by ferry. Many of the staff and patients recommended that I visit here during my trip, it is a bit quieter and the beaches felt more relaxed.

4.      Mdina – a fortified city in western Malta, a previous capital city and also the filming location for some scenes in Game of Thrones. Fontanella Tea Garden serves some great tea and cakes, and is a nice viewpoint.

5.      Blue Lagoon/Crystal Lagoon – the boat trips can get quite busy and are unfortunately pretty tourist-y, but I had to visit at least once!

6.      Any shop selling pastizzi – Pastizzi are small savoury pastries filled with ricotta, chicken or curried peas. They are just 50 cents, and definitely beat anything I have ever tried from Greggs or Lidl bakery.

Tips for organising your elective:

1.      Start early – I started thinking about my elective in August 2024, applied February 2025 and started June 2025. Whilst the University of Malta estimated this as enough time to process documents, I wish I had started at least a couple of months earlier. It can take a long time to obtain home documents, such as DBS checks, GP letters and any travel vaccinations you may need.

2.      Financial planning – overseas electives can be costly. Research properly into the costs of the programmes you’re interested in, and factor in any ‘hidden’ costs such as letters for home documents. Look into funding support available through your university – I was very lucky to be awarded a scholarship, which was a great financial help. Other funding is available through the NHS bursary, and some charities/organisations offer funding for electives in certain medical specialties.

3.      Travelling alone doesn’t have to be a barrier – I travelled with two friends, but we met many students who had travelled alone! A great thing about Malta’s electives programme is the Malta Medical Students’ Association, who made a group chat for all of the elective students to get to know each other and plan events.

4.      Think about your learning goals & communicate these to your supervisor – As I’ve mentioned, I hadn’t much experience in inpatient oncology prior to my elective, and used the experience as an opportunity to fill this gap. If you’re struggling to think of what to do for your elective, consider specialties which you have less understanding of!

This concludes my elective blog post; I hope it has been useful to any students considering an overseas elective in oncology. If you have any questions about my elective or wish to follow more of my experiences as a medical student, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.

~ Sarah Lewis