STASHH
On this page:
The Student and Trainee Association for Sexual Health and HIV – STASHH was founded in March 2021. STASHH aims to:
Email us at stashh@bashh.org
Sign up to our newsletter or connect with us on social media:
STASHH provide monthly sexual health and HIV focused educational events for students and pre-speciality doctors.
Educational events will include sessions covering hot topics in sexual health and HIV, highlights of recent conferences and exam preparation sessions. Keep up to date with our events by following our Linkedin or Instagram profiles.
Check out our podcast...
Sexy Health with STASHH is the podcast where we get down and dirty into the world of sexual health, genitourinary medicine, and HIV.
Brought to you by STASHH, an affiliate of BASHH.
Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
E-learning
STASHH organise careers events, taster days and Continuing Professional Development events. You can watch our most recent careers event here.
Our next careers event takes place on 5th October 2026 - sign up here
Click here to view the programme for this years event.
LoveGUM
LOVEGUM is a campaign launched to raise awareness of GUM and highlight the specialty.
Their website is full of useful resources and information about a career in GUM - you can find out more here
The GUM training pathway
Application Resources
IMT
GUM
Become a STASHH ambassador
Post are advertised throughout the year, with the majority of recruitment happening from August-November. This is advertised via social media and our newsletter. If you aren’t sure if a role is available, please don’t hesitate to email us: stashh@bashh.org
Leadership Opportunities
At University
- Deliver teaching
- Join your sexual health committee or start one!
- Get involved in advocacy projects
At work:
- Start a journal club
- Teach medical students
- Organise a recruitment fair/lecture
Volunteering Opportunities
- Sexpression:UK - facilitate RSE workshops
- Pride events - help represent your local clinic
- SHAG - Sexual Health Awareness Group - does your uni have one?
- C-Card - condom distribution service - seeif your local provider needs support
- Conference volunteer - International AIDS Society hold the annual AIDS Conference and offer free admission to volunteers (flights not paid)
- Freedom 2 Be - Summer support camp for young people living with HIV - typically open applications in March
STASHH aims to have a local ambassador at every univeristy and within every deanery, to support medical students and pre-specialty doctors to find and get involved with projects, teaching, audits and networking opportunities local to them. If you would like us to put you in touch with your local ambassador, or to enquire about becoming one, please email us.
For monthly updates on conferences, projects, taster days and more, please sign up to our newsletter or visit our padlet.
Clinical Opportunities for Pre-Specialty Doctors
Foundation Programme:
Consider prioritising GUM/sexual health and associated specialties at foundation eg. Infectious disease, public health, microbiology, dermatology, O&G
Alternative foundation programmes:
LIFT: Longitudinal Integrated Foundation Training, a day a week in sexual health for a year (currently available in Cardiff)
Specialised Foundation Programme: Undertake research/teaching a day a week or for a full rotation
F3+
Clinical or Academic Fellow Job - Each year there are a handful of sexual health jobs across the UK typically advertised between November-July.
Clinical Opportunities for Medical Students
Organise an SSC
- Contact your undergraduate sexual health lead
- Contact your local clinic
- Is there a specific topic you're interested in? A simple google scholar search will identify research in this area. If you're interested in someone's work, contact the corresponding author
- Get involved in research as a medical student - read more here
UK Electives
Manchester – please contact consultants directly
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde – please contact consultants directly
Imperial College London - imperial.electives@nhs.net or chelwest.electives@imperial.ac.uk
University of Edinburgh - electives@ed.ac.uk
University of Dundee - visiting-electives@dundee.ac.uk
King’s College London
University College London Hospitals
East Sussex Healthcare Trust
University Hospitals Sussex – please contact consultants directly
National
International
- IAC - HIV, International
- EACS - HIV, Europe
- IUSTI - STIs, International
- CROI - Retroviruses and opportunistic infections
Presenting Work
Local
- Ask your supervisor if you can present at your department MDT or hospital audit or guideline meeting.
- Present at your university
Regional
- BASHH run regional audit meetings. Ask your supervisor if they know when the local meeting is, or could put you in touch with the BASHH regional audit meeting.
STASHH offers any postgraduates and undergraduates the chance to gain a Mentor (either a GUM registrar or consultant) to help guide them in their interest in Sexual health and HIV. For the time being we have paused applications to request a mentor due to high demand. Keep an eye on the page to see when we open this up again.
Our aim is to match Mentees and Mentors based on their locations, as well as depending on what Mentees hope to gain from a Mentor (e.g. help with training applications vs arranging tasters days).
If you’d like to act as a mentor please register your interest here
For any queries please contact: Dr Vitasta Raina ST6 GUM / HIV Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust: vitasta.raina@nhs.net
Thank you for taking the time to look into what we do at STASHH and how you can support us.
We would appreciate your help in any of the following ways:
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Talk about us and signpost people to this page!
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Print, use and advertise our poster at career fairs, events and teaching
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Show our poster on your slides when you are teaching students and foundation / IMT / clinical fellow doctors.
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Encourage medical students and pre-specialty doctors to consider being a local ambassador for STASHH.
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Find out who your local ambassadors are (you can email us!) and get in touch with them.
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Be a mentor/encourage your consultant and registrar colleagues to be a mentor
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Let us or your local ambassadors know of any projects/audits/research/teaching opportunities that are in your department- we can connect you to someone who wants to help and get involved!
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Consider featuring on our podcast, or teaching for one of our webinars or on one of our virtual career days.
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Encourage your colleagues to get involved with STASHH too!
Links:
The STASHH Team
Cate Goldwater Breheny - STASHH Chair
Dr Rachel Kirby - Deputy Chair
Dr Grace Curry - Secretary
Dr Catrina Boyd - Education/Recruitment Co-Lead SpR
Dr Bronwyn Docherty Stewart - Education/Recruitment Co-Lead Pre-specialty
Dr Shantelle Awofadeju - Education/Recruitment Co-Lead Pre-specialty
Dr Adhishree Dean – Mentoring Co-Lead
Emily Cramond - Mentoring Co-Lead
Nathan Dean - Podcast Co-lead
Maeve Mulchrone - Podcast Co-lead
Aaron Fernandez - Podcast Editor
Dr Emily Wang - Operations Coordinator
Lily Brodnax-Bell - Medical Student Ambassador Coordinator
Dr Lydia Miles - Medical Student Ambassador Coordinator
Dr Sarah Lancaster - Pre-specialty Ambassador Coordinator
Dr Lucy Harvey - Pre-specialty Ambassador Coordinator
Dr Vida Tonkins - Projects Lead
Dr Fiona Windebank - BASHH Doctors in Training Rep
Dr Nicola Lomax - Specialty Advisory Committee Rep
Dr Leia Taylor - BASHH Doctors in Training Rep
Co-founders - Dr Ellie Crook, Dr Luke Cannon, Dr Eleanor Cochrane, Dr Hannah Church
