US Electives available for International Medical Students

[leorl]

As per ManuNastai's posts, here is a template you can use to help yourselves and other medical students find US electives receptive to IMGs and their requirements. Please copy and paste the headings into your own posts before filling them out. Also, if you have experience at any of these places, please post your impressions and what you got to do at the elective!

From ManuNastai: I'd like to comunicate with those that are searching the web for these kind of things and post the gathered information here, so we all could share them.

Univ name:
Location:
Processing fee:
Tuition fee:
Insurance covered by institution:
Insurance covered by applicant:
TOEFL requirement:
housing, transportation, meals:
Visa type:
Link:
Contact person:
Others:

A good starting place is the AAMC Extramural Electives Compendium. Sometimes it does not have the most up-to-date information.

[leorl]

Univ name: State Univ. of NY Downstate Medical Center
Location: NY
Processing fee: $175
Tuition fee: $0
Insurance covered by institution: none
Insurance covered by aplicant: malpractice indemnity, health insurance
TOEFL requirement: ?
housing, transportation, meals: residentiallife@downstate.edu for housing
Visa type:
Link:http://sls.downstate.edu/registrar/v...rnational.html
Contact person: Ms. Sandra Mingo smingo@downstate.edu, visitstudent@downstate.edu

Others: last year of me school and finnish all core clerkships

[leorl]

Univ name: Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Location: NY
Processing fee: $200
Tuition fee: $300
Insurance covered by institution: malpractice ??
Insurance covered by applicant: $40 some other health insurance?
TOEFL requirement:
housing, transportation, meals: 900$ housing MSSM Real Estate Office at (212) 241-9620
Visa type: J1
Link: http://www.mssm.edu/students/handbook/electives/
Contact person: Yovanna Torres at yovanna.torres@mssm.edu
Others: isn't necessary to finish all core clerkships before doing it

[leorl]

Univ name: Johns Hopkins University
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Processing fee: $250
Tuition fee: $0
Insurance covered by institution: $0
Insurance covered by applicant: health insurance - $182/month
TOEFL requirement: no
housing, transportation, meals: ?
Visa type: ?
Link: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/som/s.../visitors.html
Contact person: Mrs. Mary Foy vismed@jhmi.edu
Others: International students are allowed to do only Research electives, I think there's no malpractice insurance needed

[leorl]

I'll finish copying and pasting ManuNastai's info when I get a chance, but in the meantime I'll tell you my experiences:

Hospital name: The Cleveland Clinic
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Processing fee: $0
Tuition fee: $0
Insurance covered by institution: none
Insurance covered by applicant: malpractice/indemnity, health insurance (health not required)
TOEFL requirement: ----
housing, transportation, meals: housing provided and free. meals provided only on days you are on call, if your elective requires call days. transportation-none, but there are shuttles that take you to specific Cleveland Clinic locations.
Visa type: ?
Link: http://www.clevelandclinic.org/education/mse/
Contact person: Patricia Gasser, gasserp@ccf.org , (216)445-7435 or (800)745-7438

Others: You have to be in final year of study and show proof of passing USMLE Step 1 score. I completed two rotations here: Medical Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine. The people here are outstanding...not only do they live up to CCF's reputation and ranking, they are very nice as well. Not a malignant place. Many IMGs working there. Really get an opportunity to learn not only medical things, but procedural things as well.

[ManuNastai]

Thanks for copying these stuff and making this thread sticky. I'll finish the rest. Also, for those that want to contribute to this collection of information, you can start here

Univ name: Baylor Medical College
Location: Houston, TX
Processing fee: 500
Tuition fee: 500
Insurance covered by institution: malpractice bought with 12$
Insurance covered by applicant: health=160/month
TOEFL requirement: ??
housing, transportation, meals: none
Visa type: B1
Link: http://www.bcm.edu/osa/visitingmed/
Contact person: Donna Moore visitingmed@bcm.tmc.edu
Others: -

[ManuNastai]

Univ name: Harvard University
Location: Boston
Processing fee: 100
Tuition fee: 3100
Insurance covered by institution: malpractice
Insurance covered by applicant: personal health
TOEFL requirement: no, interview through telephone required
housing, transportation, meals: none
Visa type:??
Link:http://medcatalog.harvard.edu/policies/clerk.html
Contact person: Registrar asistant Exclerks@hms.harvard.edu
Others: last year of med school and finish all core clerkships

[ManuNastai]

Univ name: Brown University
Location: Providence, Rhode Island
Processing fee: 50
Tuition fee: 2873
Insurances covered by institution: none
Insurances covered by aplicant: malpractice, personal health
TOEFL requierment: no
housing, transportation, meals: only housing covered by aplicant
Visa type: ??
Link: http://bms.brown.edu/students/guide_vist_stu.html
Contact person: Linda Bozzario,401-863-2293
Others: last year of med school and finnish all core clerkships

[ManuNastai]

Univ name: Mayo
Location: 3 different sites
Processing fee: there is one, but I couldn't find it on the web site (300-399$??)
Tuition fee: none??
Insurance covered by institution: malpractice???
Insurance covered by applicant: health insurance
TOEFL requirement: yes
housing, transportation, meals: covered by aplicant, also, if the elective is done at the Mayo Clinic practices in Jacksonville, Fla., and Scottsdale, Ariz. a car is needed
Visa type: ??
Link: http://www.mayo.edu/mms/vis-clerk.html
Contact person: contact information here
Others:

[leorl]

Just to reiterate something said in the other post. The big name schools and hospitals are not necessarily the best ones to choose. As you notice from ManuNastai's posts, they all cost a significant amount of money. More importantly, research the programs that are strong in your chosen specialty. For instance, if you're interested in Paeds than an elective in Paediatrics (with one of the strongest Peds residencies in the country) may be better than trying to do Peds at Mayo.

[soulsearchin]

Originally Posted by leorl

Univ name: State Univ. of NY Downstate Medical Center
Location: NY
Processing fee: $175
Tuition fee: $0
Insurance covered by institution: none
Insurance covered by aplicant: malpractice indemnity, health insurance
TOEFL requirement: ?
housing, transportation, meals: residentiallife@downstate.edu for housing
Visa type:
Link:http://sls.downstate.edu/registrar/v...rnational.html
Contact person: Ms. Sandra Mingo smingo@downstate.edu, visitstudent@downstate.edu

Others: last year of me school and finnish all core clerkships

hey could anyone tell me soethign abt this malpractice insurance thing?how to get it done and where to getit done and how much does it cost?waiting for ur reply

[TKH resident]

deleted

[duki]

hey everyone...i know some of these electives require taking the USMLE step 1 before application..do you guys know which do and which don´t?
thanks!!

[sga430]

if u cant do a us elective then u can do an externship afterwards. a list of places:

[dggopal]

Awesome thread... I'm currently a med student doing my 3rd year in India and I have to do an internship for 1 year which I can choose to do in America or I can do it at the college that I'm studying at right now. The questions I have are:
1) do I have to take USMLE's to qualify for these "electives"?
2) are all postings available at these colleges to FMG's?
3) do you actually get to interact with the patients or are these more or less "observerships"?
4) if I choose to go after these opportunities after I complete my internship in India( i.e finish my med. school) can i still get them as externships or will that be really difficult?

[chinnu]

thanks a lot for the list of hospitals offering electives.all of them are for students and not for graduates.are there any programmes for graduates?

[DrChemistry]

Those are called externships. Check imgprep.org

[DrChemistry]

or this one

http://essentialmedicine.net/imgesse...pinus_Med1.php

[Winged Scapula]

Originally Posted by dggopal

Awesome thread... I'm currently a med student doing my 3rd year in India and I have to do an internship for 1 year which I can choose to do in America or I can do it at the college that I'm studying at right now. The questions I have are:
1) do I have to take USMLE's to qualify for these "electives"?

Many programs require passing USMLE Step 1; most do not require more than that

2) are all postings available at these colleges to FMG's?

No. Most US programs have a policy that any elective positions are made available after their own home students have enrolled. You get the leftovers. In addition, not all rotations are available. You are generally limited to 4th year electives (ie, final year electives) which require basic prerequisite courses.

3) do you actually get to interact with the patients or are these more or less "observerships"?

As long as you are still a student (I am not sure about the "internship"), these are clinical electives with patient interaction. If you are coming to the US after you graduate, then you are no eligible for student electives and are limited to observerships. Therefore it behooves you to do the electives while a student.

4) if I choose to go after these opportunities after I complete my internship in India( i.e finish my med. school) can i still get them as externships or will that be really difficult?

If you choose to do them after you complete medical school, you are not eligible for these electives. You are only then eligible for observerships.

[leorl]

Just to let you know...observerships are nearly useless, so try not to consider this as an option unless you have to. In order to write recommendation letters for you, attendings need to have an idea of your thinking process and adeptness at patient management. You can't do this by just watching without being actively involved in patient care.

You cannot do anything except observerships after you graduate from medical school. This has to do with insurance issues. Some programs will allow you to do observerships prior to starting a residency with them if you have some clinical experience behind you.

[valeposh]

Hi everybody, I just registered... I'm Italian!
I was wondering, which are the best places for an elective in emergency medicine? Because I've heard that not always big name-universities are the best ones... thanks!

[memon]

hey there..im a 3rd yr(american 2nd yr)medical student from pakistan. i really want to apply for electives preferably clinical in cardiology or general surgery.since most of the universities take students in their final yr for clinical electives i intend to do research electives this yr.is that a good idea?i want to apply for john hopkins can u tell me that does workin as an elective student ensures that i get my name published if the research does??do u know of any other universities who offer research electives?pleaaaaaase help im all confused

[scheru]

this was extremely helpful. thank you

[socrates89]

Great information thanks

[ROBINHO]

Are there any Universities/Hospitals that don't require u to be in your Final year???
What about between December and February are there normally Universities that accept Intl students???

[TMZ2007]

Can anyone comment on electives in Texas or the south for pathology?

[rox]

I heard that some big names offer interviews for IMGs who did electives at their hospitals, like Myo, Clevland and Henry Ford. On the other hand, some other big names like Yale, Harvard and Baylor, never offer IMGs interviews even if they do electives at their hospital. How true could that be?

[leorl]

As each university/hospital program is essentially private, they are allowed to set their own criteria. Some schools don't really entertain IMG applications, and some actively encourage IMG participation. You will find more of the former. Some schools offer interviews to those who did acting internships (AI's or sub-I's) as their elective at their institutions - these are like...audition rotations. But they're fairly difficult to obtain.

There should be some that accept students from December to Feb. I did one in November at the Cleveland Clinic (Emergency Medicine). Remember to schedule early.

Research electives do not count as clinical experience, which is the thing you want to try to maximize. So unless you can arrange 2-3+ electives in addition to a research elective, I would not forego clinical experience for research experience. Also, even though you do a research elective...it would not guarantee your name in publications. 4 weeks in the research world is very short, and it depends what type of project you get involved with.

[ROBINHO]

Does an externship in a Private Medical Facility(in the USA) where I know somebody whereby I could get a recommendation from a US doctor count for an IMG or it must compulsarily be in a University Hospital or Teaching Hospital?
Thanks

[DOCNET]

Hey there.. joined the community today.. i am a 6 sem mbbs student from india and i would like to know:
1. whats the main advantage of taking clinics abroad?
2. whether one can apply for elective clinics in 6 or 7 sem?
3. which american med schools do accept international (or rather indian students) for electives?
4. how much does it approximately cost?

[aProgDirector]

Originally Posted by DOCNET

Hey there.. joined the community today.. i am a 6 sem mbbs student from india and i would like to know:
1. whats the main advantage of taking clinics abroad?
2. whether one can apply for elective clinics in 6 or 7 sem?
3. which american med schools do accept international (or rather indian students) for electives?
4. how much does it approximately cost?

1. US experience is highly valued by program directors looking at IMG's. Your chances of getting a US residency spot are MUCH higher if you have some US experience with a Letter of Recommendation.

2. This is completely up to your school. In general, US schools will consider foreign students for electives during their last year of school, but each school will have it's own policy.

3. There is no central list. In general, most school accept visiting students.

4. Depends on what you consider "cost". The rotation itself shouldn't cost much/anything. There might be a small application fee. Some "big name" schools may charge huge amounts, IMHO it's best to avoid this.

However, there are lots of other costs: Travel, housing, food, car. Malpractice insurance might be provided free, at a cost, or you might have to get your own. There might be visa fees.

In addition, I expect most US schools will require that you've passed USMLE Step 1 (and perhaps Step 2 CK/CS) in order to do a rotation. Again, requirements will vary by program.

[neoreloaded]

had a few queries will be glad if someone could answer them
1.does the branch in which you do an elective matter(coz i heard img's will fill only the un filled positions)
2.are there any elective programmes which give international students choice to choose the branch they want
3. a list of img friendly surgery residency hospitals which offers electives...

[leorl]

Originally Posted by neoreloaded

had a few queries will be glad if someone could answer them
1.does the branch in which you do an elective matter(coz i heard img's will fill only the un filled positions)
2.are there any elective programmes which give international students choice to choose the branch they want
3. a list of img friendly surgery residency hospitals which offers electives...

1. You want to arrange your elective in the area you eventually want to go into (if you know already), or a similar area. For instance, I wanted EM. So I did my electives in EM, Paeds EM and ICU.

2. yes, many programs give you a choice. however, you must apply early because they must accomodate their own students first and so spots fill early. It's more of a first-come-first-serve basis. Some programs do limit specialties and say that only certain electives are available to IMGs, in which case you must choose from the list. But there probably is something on there that you'd want to do anyway.

3) I don't know a list. But IMGs can do surgery electives in the Cleveland Clinic. Specific programs aren't IMG friendly ... usually the whole hospital is IMG friendly.

[neoreloaded]

@leorl thanks for prompt reply..
1.how much weightage does electives have when applying for a residency???
2.does doing an elective in the school in which you intend to apply for residency help in any way..
3.suppose my residency plans are very specific and i want only surgery...is it better to do any elective in a img friendly hospital that offers surgery OR to do a surgery elective in any hospital..

[sulls]

i have this doubt n nowhere could i find a place that mentions it clearly..
i think it can be answered best by present/old Indian students..

will i be eligible for electives during my internship year (feb 09- feb 10)...
or will i just get observership?

[medsRus]

How do I get malpractice insurance for doing clerkships in the US? I only need it for months (not a full year). My school doesn't offer it, nor does the clerkship program I'm going to. Thanks!

[Winged Scapula]

Originally Posted by sulls

i have this doubt n nowhere could i find a place that mentions it clearly..
i think it can be answered best by present/old Indian students..

will i be eligible for electives during my internship year (feb 09- feb 10)...
or will i just get observership?

This has been addressed several times here including in the thread above. You are not eligible for electives during your internship year or anytime after you have graduated. Only observerships or research positions are available and as noted above, observerships are practically worthless.

[Domperidon]

Originally Posted by Winged Scapula

This has been addressed several times here including in the thread above. You are not eligible for electives during your internship year or anytime after you have graduated. Only observerships or research positions are available and as noted above, observerships are practically worthless.

I don't concur. Some US experience, even if just in the form of a "no patient contact observership", is definitely better than nothing at all.

[Winged Scapula]

Originally Posted by Domperidon

I don't concur. Some US experience, even if just in the form of a "no patient contact observership", is definitely better than nothing at all.

You are free to disagree. But since the point of US rotations is, in almost all cases, to obtain an LOR, without patient contact, it becomes very difficult to assess your skills in that arena.

Thus, note I said "practically" worthless. This is an opinion shared by myself and many other US faculty. In reviewing applications over the years, it is clear to me that letters from US faculty for an observership are not considered very weighty. Obviously they allow you to get somewhat familiar with the way US medicine works.

YMMV but it would be a mistake to encourage people to do observerships and think that they are a significant contribution to their application.

[FaddyAcids]

I see most hospitals have a non-refundable application fees, what if they dont accept the applicant? Or isnt there any reason to reject him if he meets the requirements? I'm not really aware of how it goes, do I have to apply to many hospitals for electives?

[rox]

I am currently going through the process of applying. I applied for one university where I met all their requirements. I was freaking out when my approval was delayed for several reasons so I applied for another university. So, I think it is wise to apply for more than one place....you never know what might happen and you don't want to live that pain! It depends also on whether you can afford it.

Usually, if you meet the requirements, it's just a matter of having an available position in the elective you applied for(e.g Cardiology). In case it was full, they usually let you choose another one....happened to me.

If you are so strict about the elective you want to do(e.g Neuroradiology), I think it's better to apply for more than one place just in case one of them was full.

Apply early. Application fee is most of the time non-refundable. Good luck

[FaddyAcids]

Thank you so much for the help!

And what is the best time of the year to do that? I was thinking of June-July, do they generally offer eletives in summer?

[rox]

Generally speaking, summer isn't the best season to apply for. Usually local students fill the rotations in summer(international applications are processed after local students schedule their electives).

Plus, usually medical schools process your applcation in late May to early June. Therefore, if you'll be approved for summer, you will only hear shortly before your starting date.

You have to keep in mind that the best way to be sure is to check the homepage of the school you are interested in or directly contact them.

[neo301]

Hi . I am an undergraduate student .
I quite followed all that I found regarding electives/clerkships?
But I still have the following queries??

1)Are electives and clerkships one and the same thing?

2)When can we pursue these programmes--in the final year of study or during internship?

3)Are our Indian Medical schools well tolerant regarding letting their interns go for rotations abroad?Like do we have to compensate the no. of weeks in our own medical college?

4)Can somebody pleeeeeeeeaseeeee let me know any official URL for authentic information regarding the same?
For electives,I found sufficient information on AAMC website--Extramural Electives Compendium.
But, found no source of info for clerkships?? americlerkships.com seems more like a commercial website...

I hope some well researched person will throw some light on this topic...
thanx in advnce..

[rox]

Originally Posted by neo301

1)Are electives and clerkships one and the same thing?

Yes

Originally Posted by neo301

2)When can we pursue these programmes--in the final year of study or during internship?

Most of the med schools offer electives only for final year med student. You may find places that accept students before that. It becomes difficult for postgraduates due to malpractice insurance issues.

Originally Posted by neo301

3)Are our Indian Medical schools well tolerant regarding letting their interns go for rotations abroad?Like do we have to compensate the no. of weeks in our own medical college??

I am of course not aware of your med school, but usually what happens is that you have it already in your curriculum and what you have to do is to get a letter from the hosting school that you completed the elective there. For example, we have 5 rotations in our final year here, one of them is the electtive rotation. You do it wherever you want.

Hope this helps.

[FaddyAcids]

Did any of you use this website to get USCE? Are they trustful?

http://www.americlerkships.com

or anyone who has used similar websites? please post them..

[monykat]

Does Any one know about IMGPrep? is a postgraduate placement program. They offer U.S. clinical experience. Also medical malpractice insurance, personalized counseling, ultimate residency program database, etc.

If any one know about them or another associaton please, help.

Thank you.

[rox]

There are several companies offering extenships for graduates. I have came across some threads in other forums criticizing them. Some people posted positive feedback though.

[JC Denton]

Does anyone have experience doing core 3rd year rotations in the US (or hear of people that did)? I'm having a hard time finding specific schools that accept 3rd year students.

I feel that US clinical experience, though always possible during the 4th year, would be beneficial the more we have of it.

[Burtonswix]

Well, this type of experience is not so common, but they do exist, it has worked for me, at least. I am a foreign medical student, currently attending
the 2nd year of a MD pathway with six years of duration. I must be something like an American 1st year student. I will be doing a Research Elective + Clinical Observership at Johns Hopkins for 2 months and a half (nine weeks), officially, though the medical school. The only advice I'd give you is simple (but rarely effective): Send e-mails to the chairs and directors of the speciality you'd like to work with. Maybe they'll answer and, well, maybe you'll get your position, if you insist a lot and be lucky....Unfortunately that's how it works, at least at Hopkins (I'm not so sure about the other schools, anyway it must be something similar). There's an application process (JHU), but the truth is: If you do not have a previous agreement with your potential preceptor, there will be no donut for you, probably (I had an agreement)...They don't make it clear at the Hopkins web site, but that's how it works for us (IMGs) in the real world........Good Luck