Rotation vs. Elective vs. Clerkship vs. Externship-Difference

[Redpancreas]

I know there are threads like this on here and I looked through them and I didn't get what I want. I am looking for a brief 1-2 description on each of thee and how they are different. I've heard these words thrown around by my friends, at interviews, at second look days, and I even asked a student during second look day but the student wasn't absolutely sure. Also, I am familiar with the concept of things being school-specific so maybe it's just an issue of semantics or what schools want to call each thing.

My attempt:

Rotation: A 3 week to a 1 month clinical experience in 3rd year where you use clinical skills in the areas of Internal Medicine, Emergency Med, Family Med, Ob/Gyn, and General Surgery.

Clerkship: Another word for rotation?

Elective: A course taken 4th year that resembles a clerkship except that it is in a more specific field like GI or Orthopedics, maybe? But then...I've seen some schools call electives classes like Health Policy and some schools with programs that let you skip electives if you do "x" amount of volunteering...and why would you want to skip a potential clinical experience?

Externship: Something you do between 1st and 2nd year where you just basically do shadowing but with more intellectual involvement since you actually know stuff.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[alpinism]

The definitions likely vary between med schools, however, here's a general guide:

Rotation = clerkship or elective

Clerkship = 3rd year core rotation that is required by the school (usually IM, GS, Peds, OB/Gyn, FM, psych, and maybe EM)

Elective = 3rd or 4th year rotation that is not required by the school and is chosen from a list (usually subspecialties)

Externship = typically a mini rotation during the summer between M1 and M2. Depending on the program it can be anything from mostly shadowing to performing the same tasks as 3rd year students.

(For example on my externship in GS I was able to pre round, round, examine and present patients, write notes, and 1st assist on surgeries)

Sub-Internship = 4th year rotation with more responsibility than 3rd year where you typically function as an intern.

Core rotations are typically 4-8 weeks.
Electives are typically shorter.

 

[Redpancreas]

The definitions likely vary between med schools, however, here's a general guide:

Rotation = clerkship or elective

Clerkship = 3rd year core rotation that is required by the school (usually IM, GS, Peds, OB/Gyn, FM, psych, and maybe EM)

Elective = 3rd or 4th year rotation that is not required by the school and is chosen from a list (usually subspecialties)

Externship = typically a mini rotation during the summer between M1 and M2. Depending on the program it can be anything from mostly shadowing to performing the same tasks as 3rd year students.

(For example on my externship in GS I was able to pre round, round, examine and present patients, write notes, and 1st assist on surgeries)

Sub-Internship = 4th year rotation with more responsibility than 3rd year where you typically function as an intern.

Core rotations are typically 4-8 weeks.
Electives are typically shorter.

This is all I needed. Thank you.