rotations...

[banta]

Hey folks, a question to those who have already travelled on the road....I often hear students mention they "set up their own rotations" ....how does one go about doing this....where do you begin?....what is the process involved ...any suggestions...recommendations??....unfortunately...I have no, "connections".... Thanks for sharing, any input is appreciated.
...Suzy B. )

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[Winged Scapula]

Most US schools (assuming these are the outside rotations you were speaking of) have electives available to visiting 4th year students; many of these courses are listed on the school's website.

Setting them up usually requires sending either an application or request form to the department of interest or the student coordinator stating what you wish to do and when, and some supplemental documentation; this can include:

a statement from your school that you are in good academic standing

malpractice/liability insurance (if your school does not provide it, the visiting school may)

health insurance good in the US

fees - some charge tuition; however, note that MANY do not, so do not be led into paying large sums of money for a rotation when there are hundreds which will have you for free

My route was to simply choose schools in geographical areas or at programs I was interested in and look at their web site. When I found information about electives, I simply followed their instructions. Some schools will state that they do not accept FMGs - I found that this was often used simply to "discourage" applications and wasn't necessarily true.

Hope this helps.

 

[Skip Intro]

There is a distinction between doing 3rd year core clerkships and 4th year electives.

If you want to do 3rd year cores, you will have a harder time setting these up on your own - especially if you do not have "connections", as you say. Ross, SGU, Sackler, a few other more reputable Carib schools, UAG (I believe), and one of the Filipino schools have programs to do core rotations in the U.S. Most are set-up in NY because these schools are "pre-certified" to by the NY state education board to receive this training full-time at U.S. teaching hospitals. Obviously, this is an advantage come residency time for students attending these schools because they can definitively say they've done all their clinical training in the U.S.

Most states restrict the amount of time that IM students can participate in pre-graduation (i.e., non-PGY) clerkships in the U.S. Additionally, many schools further restrict the amount of time even further (the most I've seen for visiting electives, with school approval, is 12 weeks).

Everything else that Dr. Cox says is right on the money. You can look on the AAMC website for a list of programs that accept students for extramural electives.

Good luck.

-Skip
MSIII RUSM

 

[Dobiecka]

What about foreign medical school graduates? Are clerkships only available for medical students?
I work as an RN in California but am an IMG and have passed USMLE I and II. I want to apply next year for a residency but I don't have the references or clinical experience that I think a residency might want. Would doing a clerkship solve this problem?
Thanks!
-Aga