4th Year Instructions - Choosing Clerkship Electives

 Elective Rotations

• May utilize rotations of your choice
• May do an elective with ANY board certified or board eligible D.O. or M.D.
• Rotations are 4 weeks in length (No split rotations)

Things to Keep in a Folder for Away Rotations:

•  Background check
•  HIPAA certification
•  ACLS and BLS cards
•  Board scores
•  Official transcripts
•  Personal insurance and Malpractice insurance verification
•  Immunization records, include yearly TB skin test and blood test/titers 
•  Passport sized photos
• Also keep blank clerkship evaluations and application forms for elective rotations.

How to Find an “Away” Elective

• Personal and professional contacts
• Alumni
• The Office of Clinical Education – rotation sites/preceptors listed by discipline
• Other students (The Office of Clinical Education has site evaluations from past elective rotations.)
• Do-online Opportunities has information about osteopathic residency programs: http://opportunities.osteopathic.org/index.htm
• Fellowship and Residency Electronic and Interactive Database (FREIDA) has information about allopathic residency programs: https://freida.ama-assn.org/Freida/user/viewProgramSearch.do
• Popular Rotation Sites in Texas
• The Extramural Electives Compendium (EEC) is an electronic document published by the AAMC Section for Student Affairs and Programs. The EEC contains information for medical students in a searchable database format about the scheduling of elective opportunities at AAMC-member US medical schools: http://www.aamc.org/students/medstudents/electives/start.htm

 Applying for an “away” elective

• Follow the instructions for visiting students on the rotation’s website
• Complete the student portion of the application

·         You will turn in a Clerkship Application and Approval for each elective request. If the visiting site has a section for Clinical Education to sign/complete, please turn that in along with any forms/requests from the visiting sites. You will be notified via email when you are able to pick up your materials. We will keep the Clerkship Application and Approval Form to track what applications you have out and attach approvals, when received.

·         The application packet may include an Immunization Form that must be completed by Student Health

·         Send completed packet to Host institution/preceptor for approval and signatures

·         You are responsible for notifying us when a rotation has been approved by the visiting site! Failure to do so may result in you not receiving credit for that rotation. Please notify us by email at: clinicaleducation@unthsc.edu.

Goals for Electives:

• to “try out” a specific discipline that they are considering as a possible career.
• to enhance knowledge and clinical skills in the discipline in which an “audition” elective is scheduled to optimize performance and impression to be made; and/or
• to "audition" in a program or institution in which they are interested; many specialty societies discourage more than 2 elective rotations in the specialty area, but many programs won’t interview you unless you rotate with them.
• for some disciplines, students will audition at another institution to acquire a recommendation letter from that program
• to broaden their knowledge and skill base; to consolidate or strengthen knowledge in areas not likely to be covered intensively in your planned specialty residency or prepare for residency;
• to explore a new area (either a new medical field of study, a new medical center or a geographic area for possible relocation);

You may request a Letter of Good Standing, Certificate of Coverage, and an Evaluation Form from the Office of Clinical Education. All of these items may be requested repeatedly as you apply for elective rotations throughout the year. You may duplicate these for your applications. If other specific information is required, you may contact the Office of Clinical Education.

Please note: All information requested is subject to a one week turnaround time.

Clerkship Forms, Certificate of Coverage and Evaluation Forms are available on this website under Forms and our office.

Generic letter of good standing includes:

• Statement of good standing
• Statement that an evaluation is required
• Liability limits and provider
• Statement that core rotations are completed
• HIPAA statement
• OSHA statement (blood-borne pathogens and tuberculosis workshop)
• Statement concerning the background checks
• Anticipated date of graduation
   

Other documents that you may need, but must be provided from other departments include letters of recommendation (Student Affairs), transcripts (Registrar), and immunization records (Student Health).

Deadlines

It is imperative that you follow the deadlines published. The deadline column is the deadline to have your paperwork into the visiting site. Be sure you build in time to get things from other offices. Besides the one week turnaround time in Clinical Education, you may have to wait for official transcripts, immunization records, or letters of recommendation.

Cancellations

If you decide to cancel a requested rotation, we must receive notification (preferably via email to clinicaleducation@unthsc.edu) no less than one month prior to the start of the requested period. After the deadline, students with two applications out for a requested period run the risk of having a rotation canceled without their permission.