Scheduling Electives

So I had a suggestion to write about the process of scheduling electives! By the way, if anyone has suggestions on other topics, let me know! Go to the Contact Me tab or comment below!

How the elective process works is first you need to decide which electives you would like to do, when you would like to do them and where. You can do electives at affiliated hospitals which means that our school already has an agreement with them and the clinical department does all the work for you basically. These spots are mostly the same as where we can our core rotations offered which you can see a list of those here. You can also set up electives by yourself in "non-affliliate" hospitals. I will describe both processes.

Affiliated Electives
For a not so complete list of electives that our school offers, I wrote a post of how to access the list here. Another great resource is the facebook group for clinical students (you can not be apart of the group until you pass Step 1). Many people ask about where people suggest doing a certain elective and your peers are the best to get advise from. Calling the clinical department is always helpful so they can tell you what's available. Don't just call the clinical department for all electives though, have an idea of some you are interested in and go from there! When I receive information about what electives are offered in certain hospitals I try to post it on the blog as well.

Once you decide which elective you would like to do, you contact the clinical department and give them dates you would like to complete it. Sometimes they give you a contact name of a coordinator at the hospital to email directly about availability or sometimes they email the coordinator. Once you determine the timing is good, there is usually some paperwork sent to you and then it should be added to your Clinical Schedule on the portal! Make sure to check this often to make sure your electives and cores are placed on the schedule with the correct dates and locations.

Non-affiliate Electives
One way to score non-affiliate electives is by applying online to specific hospitals. Google any hospital you're interested in going to, along with "visiting medical student rotations" and it should take you to the page to see what's offered. Always read what's required to apply. UMHS is not LCME accredited (the accreditation for U.S. medical schools), many large university hospitals require visiting students to come from LCME accredited schools so it's not worth applying. Some applications have fees involved which you have to cover to apply. Some programs just include an email address of a coordinator if you are interested in doing a rotation there. Almost all applications require the signature of the Dean before applying. Print out the application, fill it out except the dean part and send it to the clinical coordinator. You must also fill out this form with every application you wish for them to send. ALWAYS follow up in a week to make sure someone is working on it!

Another way to get non-affiliated electives is by knowing a doctor who would be willing to take you on as a student or just by contacting smaller hospitals to see what's offered. I happened to met a physician on a tour in Washington D.C. from my home state and she said she would get me into electives at the hospital she works at. It's really about who you know. Connections get you a long way.

Once you have confirmed an elective with a hospital we are not affiliated with, you must get our school's permission to complete it. This involves sending the confirmation email received saying that you can do the rotation to the clinical coordinator along with any paperwork the hospital is asking you to complete. Many hospitals require the school to fill out part of the application and send it in. Complete all of your portions on the application and send it to the school to complete the rest. The clinical dean must approve all non-affiliate rotations.

Along with sending the email you must also log into the portal system, on the left hand side find "Change in Clinical Schedule Request" and click on it. Complete the Section that says "Please Add the Following Rotation to my Clinical Schedule". Give the department a few days then call to make sure they received it. This all must be done prior to 30 days before the start of the elective!!

So this was a crash course on how to schedule electives, if you have any questions let me know and happy scheduling!