Electives Policy
Background
Electives are designed to allow medical students the opportunity to explore a variety of specialties not typically offered in the traditional MS3 clerkships (foundational electives) or to pursue a specific specialty at a higher level (advanced electives) in order to be better prepared for residency training. In addition, electives provide an opportunity for students to study areas of medicine for which they may never receive formal instruction so as to allow for a broad medical education. The following policy applies to the electives at VCU School of Medicine.
Policy
- Pre-requisites: None*
- Duration:2 weeks per elective
- Offerings: The elective catalog contained within e-curriculum includes all available foundational electives. If a student would like to complete a foundational elective which is not formally offered through the catalog, the student must submit a proposal to the Curriculum Office.
- Elective time: All students are provided 4 weeks of foundational elective time during the first 12 months of the clinical curriculum.
- Placement: A foundational elective lottery is run twice per academic year. The first lottery occurs after students have been placed into their core clerkships. This lottery places students in foundational electives which take place in the first half of the respective academic year. A second lottery occurs in the fall of the third year. This lottery places students in foundational electives which take place in the second half of the respective academic year. Students may not add or drop foundational electives.
*Students are required to complete the Surgery clerkship prior to enrolling in a foundational elective in a surgical subspecialty.
- Pre-requisites: 4 months of core clerkships AND any core clerskship which naturally precedes the advanced (e.g. students must complete the internal medicine clerkship before taking a medicine advanced elective) elective.
- Duration: 2-4 weeks per elective
- Offerings: The elective catalog contained within e-curriculum includes all available advanced electives. If a student would like to complete an advanced elective which is not formally offered through the catalog, the student must submit a proposal to the Curriculum Office.
- Elective time: Students are provided 44 weeks during the second 12 months of the clinical curriculum to complete advanced electives and acting internships. In addition, a student may elect to use designated foundational elective time for advanced electives if the student has met the pre-requisites for the advanced elective of interest.
- Placement: An advanced lottery is run once per academic year. The advanced lottery in the second half of the third year. Students may add or drop advanced electives up to two weeks before the start of the elective.
- Categories of advanced electives:
- Clinical advanced electives
- Rotations in which students participate in direct patient care clinical activities including clinic/consult months, domestic electives, international clinical rotations, and procedural skills electives. See individual requirements below.
- Non-clinical advanced electives
- Rotations in which students do not participate in direct patient care activities. These include but are not limited to: Interview block; USMLE Step 2 Study block; Vacation; Independent Projects. See individual requirements below.
- Students may complete a maximum of 20 weeks of non-clinical experiences.
- Clinical advanced electives
- Interview Block: Students may take up to 4 weeks for interviews.
- USMLE Step 2 Study Block: Students may take up to 4 weeks for Step 2 examination preparation.
- Vacation time: a maximum of 4 weeks may be taken over the course of the clinical curriculum; a maximum of 2 weeks may be taken in the first 12 months of the clinical curriculum
- Domestic electives: Students may take a maximum of 16 weeks of domestic electives (away rotations); each domestic elective must be approved by either the Assistant Dean for Clinical Medical Education or the Associate Dean for Student Affairs to ensure the site meets LCME requirements; domestic electives may count as an Acting Internship if they meet the requirements defined to qualify as an Acting Internship. See Acting Internship defined below.
- Independent projects: Non-clinical or clinical experiences including research experiences or other experiences not included in the elective catalog; must be submitted for approval to the Curriculum Office. All independent project forms must be submitted to the Curriculum Office at least two weeks prior to the beginning of the block.
An Acting Internship is a clinical experience completed at VCU or affiliated hospital systems in which the medical student is expected to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and attitudes expected of a first year resident. All students must complete 2 acting internships. One must be an "inpatient ward" acting internship. The other must be a "critical care" acting internship.
- Inpatient ward Acting Internship: Exclusively Inpatient-based experience at VCU or affiliated hospital systems (i.e. INOVA or the VA) in which the student performs at the level of a first year resident in the respective clinical setting.
- Critical Care Acting Intership: Critical care-oriented experience at VCU or affiliated hospital systems (i.e. INOVA or the VA) in which the student performs at the level of a first year resident in the respective critical care setting.
Guidelines
Objectives
- To encourage further development of basic science interest.
- To provide an opportunity for intensive development in a specific area of clinical interest.
- To extend the understanding of medical practice by exposure to medical care programs both in the United States and abroad.
- To provide an opportunity to stimulate further in-depth study of elective programs already initiated by the student.
Guideline Policies
General
- All students are required to take the USMLE Step 2 CK and CS for the first time after completion of their core clerkships. Failure to do so may result in dismissal. Students are required to pass USMLE Step 2 CK and CS for GRADUATION. Please refer to the student handbook for more information on the USMLE policy.
- By January of the M3 year, each student must notify the Registrar of their intended primary area of interest for residency training. Based upon this area of interest, the student will be assigned an M4 Advisor. It is expected that the student will meet with the M4 Advisor to select an elective schedule.
- Each student must complete two acting internship during the M4 year at VCU / VCUHS. All students are required to take a minimum of one critical care month and a minimum of one inpatient ward.
- All INOVA Students enrolled in a VCU Health M4 elective will need to obtain a VCU Health Sciences ID and be scheduled for CIS Training. Please notify Katedra Mitchell approximately a month prior to the M4 elective in order to be enrolled in CIS Training. Report to the Curriculum Office on the first day of the M4 Elective.
- Students may take up to 20 weeks of non-clinical electives in the M4 year. Included in the definition of non-clinical electives is interview month, research, the USMLE Step 2 board study, or vacation. This list does not include all non-clinical electives.
- Students may enroll in no more than four away electives. Two may be international. Please refer to the "Policy and Procedure for Students Taking Extramural Domestic Electives" and the "Policy and Procedure for Students Taking Extramural International Electives."
AI and Critical Care electives are not to be scheduled during interview months.
- Students who have M3 requirements to complete must schedule this work with the Curriculum Office. The make-up must be completed before the third Friday in December.
- If a preceptor considers a student's performance to be unsatisfactory, the preceptor should report this to the Curriculum Office, while at the same time notifying the student.
- Extramural domestic electives include all educational activities that are not specifically required by the School of Medicine for purposes of graduation, and involve educational programs outside of Virginia Commonwealth University, the Virginia Commonwealth University Health Care System or the School of Medicine affiliated healthcare institutions, but within the continental United States.
- Credit for no more than four extramural electives will be recognized by VCU/VCU School of Medicine.
- The procedure for arranging extramural domestic electives is as follows:
- The student contacts a physician or faculty member at the hosting institution and its Office of Student Affairs, or a similar designated office responsible for managing electives.
- The student obtains an application from the hosting institution (or VSAS System) to arrange for the program and dates, including a letter from the preceptor at the institution where the elective is planned. The letter must contain a detailed description of the elective, method of assessment and the agreement of the preceptor to sponsor and supervise the student for the experience.
- The student completes the application. For elective sites that do not have a formal application, the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine application [PDF] must be completed.
- The application for away elective must be submitted by the student to Katedra Mitchell, M4 Clinical Coordinator.
- If the student is spending M3/M4 years on the Richmond campus, the above materials are reviewed by the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and signed as an indication that the elective is deemed a legitimate educational experience and the student may participate. If the student is spending M3/M4 years at the INOVA campus of the School of Medicine, the above materials are either mailed or faxed to Katedra Mitchell after being reviewed by the Assistant Dean of Medical Student Education for the INOVA Northern Virginia Division and signed as an indication that the elective is deemed a legitimate educational experience and the student may participate.
- Upon completion of the elective a grade evaluation is required. Students are solely responsible for submitting the grade evaluation to the preceptor of that elective and for all costs or fees involved in taking an extramural elective.
- All International electives must be approved by either the Assistant Dean of Curriculum or Dean of Student Affairs.
- Extramural international electives include all educational activities that are not specifically required by the School of Medicine for purposes of graduation, and involve educational programs outside of the continental United States.
- Credit for no more than four extramural electives will be recognized by VCU/the VCU School of Medicine. Two of these may be international.
- The procedure for arranging extramural international electives is as follows:
- The student contacts a physician/faculty member at the hosting institution and their Office of Student Affairs, or a similar designated office responsible for managing electives.
- The student obtains an application from the hosting institution to arrange for the program and dates, including a letter from the preceptor at the institution where the elective is planned. The letter must contain a detailed description of the elective, method of assessment and that the preceptor agrees to sponsor and supervise the student for the experience.
- For elective sites that do not have a formal application, the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine Application for Away Elective [PDF] must be completed.
- In addition, the student must go online and complete the Medical Elective Abroad registry.
- The application for the elective must be submitted by the student to Katedra Mitchell, M4 Clinical Coordinator.
- The applicant needs to contact Student Health four months in advance for any immunizations for international electives.
- If the student is spending M3/M4 years on the Richmond campus, the above materials are reviewed by the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and signed as an indication that the elective is deemed a legitimate educational experience and the student may participate. If the student is spending M3/M4 years at the INOVA campus, the above materials are faxed to Katedra Mitchell after being reviewed by the Assistant Dean of Medical Student Education for the INOVA Northern Virginia Division and signed as an indication that the elective is deemed a legitimate educational experience and the student may participate.
- Upon completion of the elective, the assistant electives coordinator sends the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine electives' evaluation form to the preceptor for completion.
- Students are solely responsible for all costs or fees involved in taking an extramural elective.
- Students must receive grades of H, HP, P, M, or F for all AI and Critical Care electives and those leaving the U.S. must get their grade sheet before they leave and take it with them. It is the student's responsibility to bring the evaluation back with them and to submit it to the Curriculum Office.
- Students will receive CA or CN for all advanced clinical and nonclinical electives.
- Students who receive an unsatisfactory evaluation from a preceptor will be interviewed by the Associate Dean for Student Affairs on the Richmond Campus or by the Assistant Dean at the INOVA Campus.
- Any student request for a change in an elective may do so by the deadline dates.
- REQUESTS FOR CHANGES MUST BE MADE BY THE DEADLINE DATES OR YOU WILL HAVE TO GET WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE PRECEPTOR WHO CAN RELEASE YOU OR SAY IT IS TOO LATE TO BE RELEASED FROM THEIR ELECTIVE.
- Changes will only be accepted for entire elective periods and must coincide with the beginning and end of the period.
- Changes to the elective schedule must be submitted to the Curriculum Office.
Special time has been provided in your schedule for internship/residency interviewing either Time Period 7 or 8. We expect all of you to be able to complete your intern interviewing during the allotted time. Students in the Armed Forces and those applying for early match may need to plan to use a different time for interviewing.
Those students interested in seeking residency positions in certain AI's and Critical Care electives, should schedule them early between time periods 1 thru 6. Those that are interested in doing these electives for experience, please schedule them during time periods 9 through 11 to give those interested in the above electives for residency a chance to schedule them early. You can always come by the Electives Office to see if the other time periods are full.
Visiting Students
Opportunities
VCU School of Medicine uses VSAS, the Visiting Student Application Service, to receive visiting student applications. Applications must be submitted through VSAS. To apply, please complete and submit a VSAS application for the preferred electives and dates.
VCU School of Medicine students have first priority for elective experiences; visiting medical students from other US accredited schools are then considered. Due to the recent increase in class size, the VCU School of Medicine is no longer able to accept applications from international medical students.
In addition to completing the VSAS application, the School of Medicine requires the following information in order for your application to be complete:
- Recent picture
- Dean's Letter of good standing
- Curriculum Vitae
- Proof of passing USMLE Step 1 or COMLEX Exam (no exceptions)
- Proof of HIPAA training
- Proof of health insurance (a copy of your health insurance card will suffice)
- Current transcript
- Completion of the VCU immunization form (VCU Health Sciences Certificate of Immunization)
- Letter of recommendation (optional)
For more information on visiting student electives, please contact Hayley Mathews at hayley.mathews@vcuhealth.org or (804) 828-9798.
For more information on VSAS, please visit www.aamc.org/vsas.
International Students Policy
VCU School of Medicine is not accepting applications from international medical students for elective experiences. If there is any change, this website will be updated.
VCU School of Medicine is not accepting applications from international medical students for elective experiences. If there is any change, this website will be updated.