Prior to the curriculum change, we had 4 weeks of outpatient IM (incorporated into the 12 weeks of IM) in addition to 6 weeks of FM, which was basically the same as the outpatient IM experience. That's 10 weeks of outpatient, which was too much. So the 4 weeks of outpatient IM was cut, in favor of elective time, which will be added on to FM (2 weeks) and OB/GYN (2 weeks). It seems that FM and OB/GYN will both remain as 6 weeks rotations, but students will also be able to do 2-week electives during them. This will help students determine which specialty they prefer, particularly at an earlier time during med school. Personally, that makes sense, since we don't have much opportunity for elective time before the fourth year (when you should have already chosen your specialty).
Not sure how subspecialty selection will work, but if the third year consists of 26 2-week blocks and there are 175 third year medical students and each student gets 2 2-week elective blocks, that's about 13 students on elective at any one time, if my math is correct. Shouldn't be too hard to place them in their desired electives.
Lastly, to quote Dr. Slavin on the new changes: "The plan, as many of you probably know, originated with four fourth-year medical students and received overwhelming support from the classes that it was presented to (e.g. 96% of graduating students supported the plan last year)."
