Why do an Elective?? Is it necessary? What is the Benefit? & What if i cannot get one!!!

Why do an Elective?? Is it necessary? What is the Benefit? & What if i cannot get one!!! 

Well this is the Most frequently asked question to me by my 4th & 5th year followers all over the World. Many in this Group are Apprehensive as to what is the Significance of these 'things' & How to Get one & What to do if We End up not getting Any!!!

So here we are in this Post to Discuss about these Questions from you guys ;)

So Let's Begin,,,

• What Exactly is a Clerkship and what is an Elective?

Basically Clerk-ships are Clinical Rotations in Wards as a Part of the Clinical Learning Procedure which We all do at our Respective Medical Schools in 3rd, 4th or 5th years as the Case may be. All Students undergo clerk-ships at their Med Schools in Medicine Ward, Surgery Ward, Obs & Gynae Wards, Peds & so on. On the other Hand an ELECTIVE is a Clinical Rotation of OUR OWN CHOICE that we participate in with our will to get Some Clinical Experience in some Specialty of our Interest at a Foreign Institution. So You Guys will have to apply for Electives to get USCE (United States Clinical Experience) & not CLERK-SHIPS.
BUT, Yes but!!, 

Many Hospitals in US now use these terms interchangeably. SO We hereby giving full Respect to this fact will Do the same & Use them interchangeably for ELECTIVES.  

• Why Do an Elective/Clerkship?

The Bottom-line Purpose of Having a USCE to most International Medical Students is to Show it in Your "RESUME" for your Residency Interviews & Get Some Good LoRs. But Seriously, You Get to know the functioning of a US based Hospitals. You Learn to Interact with Patients, how to talk to them, How to take histories, How to Create a Rapport with Both the Patient & the Medical team including Nurses & Other Doctors & Hospital Staff. You do all that a US 4rth (final) Year Student will do in Medical School during his Rotation in that Particular Department. For Example in an IM(Internal Medicine) Elective you will Participate in 'Ward Rounds', Present Cases to the Attending & Residents, Take Histories, Do Physical Examinations & Do Almost Everything what an American Med Student will be Doing during his IM Hospital Rotation in his final year of MBBS. So You Learn as Well as Perform All Duties at Par of an American MBBS Student. In Addition you can participate in Seminars, Presentations & all other Activities the Department offers at your own will. Not to mention the most important thing is the CONTACTS you will be making, not only with the Attending & Residents but many many others at the institution who may be of Use in one way or the other. If an Attending who holds a Good Position in that School is impressed by your performance he can not only write you a Great LoR but also Personally Recommend you to a program at the same or Different Institution. Plus you may as well Get Chances to do some Publications too in the Same Institutions e.g. at Harvard & other Reputed Places. Besides that The Interactive & Communicative Skills you will be developing are of course rewarding. 

BOTTOMLINE while putting you in a Rank order list, The Program Director knows US hospitals are not totally ‘alien’ to you. So it is always good to have SOME kind of an USCE (Unites States Clinical experience) in any form. But as we are focusing here on Clerkships so let’s just focus on them.

• What if i Do Electives in UK or Canada or Any other Country??

---Continued in our Book.

These were some of the Questions from the Second Chapter named 'FAQs' from our Book. If you want to get answers to more questions regarding electives, Check out our Book on Electives. The ost Comprehensive text on Electives.View the full index here.

P.S- Still i would love to answer a question here for you guys for free & that is 

• What if i do not get one????

Well friends, no need to Panic. It's completely okay. Majority of IMGs Submit a USCE of Observerships & if lucky enough an Externship or a Research (too good). So Do Not think that your chances are Drastically down. Nothing like that. As these experiences also make you aware fo the Health care system Functioning in the US and hold good Value contrary to the myth that 'observerships' are useless. NO THEY ARE NOT. They are a Great Asset in your Resume & You Must go for them. I Can Write an Endless List of IMGs geting Matched who had Only Observerships as USCE. But Still , because Elective is a 'HANDS ON EXPERIENCE' It Seriously is a Big Deal. So DO NOT Miss an Opportunity while in your Final Year. Apply, Try & If you get one, You are Seriously Blessed. But do not get demotivated if you do not get it. Remember, Your Duty is only to try your Best. Leave the Rest on God. I Hope this Topic was useful for you.

If you have any more Queries or Doubts, Do not hesitate to Contact me or ask me on my facebook Page & You can also Inbox me if you want a One to One Consultation Only.

Anyways, In order to Know more About electives Get a Plethora of Information about Electives. Check out our Book 'US Clinical Electives A to Z'  on lulu.com. You can also buy the Book from iBookstore now. Install the iBooks app from istore & you can get the Book from there.

Okay friends, Hope to See you Soon with a New topic of Interest on my Blog. Keep Believing!!
All the Best!! (y)
:)

List of Colleges You can apply to for Clinical Electives in the United States - from the 4rth Edition of our e-Book

List of Colleges You can apply to for Clinical Electives in the United States - from the 4rth Edition of our e-Book @ lulu.com. Also Available on the iBookStore Now!! :) (y) :) :)

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Chapter 4:

Medical Colleges You Can Apply to: 

1.  Weill Medical School of Cornell university--*

Click Here for Weill Cornell Electives Page

http://med.cornell.edu/international/for_int_stu/index.html?name1=Guidelines&type1=2Active

Brief Info: No Step 1 Requirement, No TOEFL, MPI (Malpractice Insurance) after acceptance

2.  Harvard Medical School--* 

Click here for Harvard electives Page 

http://ecommons.med.harvard.edu/org.asp?exclerk

Brief Info: Step1 NR (Not required for applying), TOEFL NR, MPI NR, Plus a tuition fee waiver can be given if you are from an underrepresented country & can Prove financial Hardship. E-mail Address isEmail:exclerks@hms.harvard.edu to confirm any such issues or other information related to electives.

3. Yale School of Medicine*

Yale School of Medicine Electives Page

http://medicine.yale.edu/globalhealth/international/index.aspx

Brief Info: Step 1 NR, TOEFL NR, if English is the Teaching language in Medical School (Check IMED)

4. Brown Medical School 

Brown Medical School Electives page 

http://brown.edu/academics/medical/education/vims

Visit the above links for latest info.

5. Duke University School of Medicine

Duke Electives Page  

http://medschool.duke.edu/education/office-registrar/visiting-students-program

Brief Info: Accepts Students from Affiliated Medical Schools outside the US or on faculty Sponsorship Only Now. Visit the page for more up to date information.

6. Mount Sinai School of Medicine--

Mount Sinai School of Medicine

 http://www.mssm.edu/education/student-resources/registrar/electives/visiting-students#forms

Brief Info: Step 1-Req, TOEFL- Req, MPI- Req.

But sometimes can waive off Step 1 requirements. Visit the above link for more information or Contact via E-mail: visiting-students@mssm.edu
if you have questions related to the foreign visiting student elective program, please contact:

Jeanneth Persaud
Tel: 212-241-6691
Tuesdays and Thursdays only, between the hours of 10:00am and 3:00pm or
E-mail: visiting-students@mssm.edu

7. John Hopkins (Only Research electives)*

John Hopkins Visiting Student Page 

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/som/students/policies/visitors.html

Brief Info: Step 1 - NR, TOEFL – NR, MPI – NR, They accept only US based health insurance while others accept Home country based health insurance. Visithttps://www.ehealthinsurance.com/ehi/individual/cart-summary

International Students are accepted for Research electives only.

You can get a HIPAA compliance training certificate from their website. More on that in Volume 2. Follow these additional link to see the list of electives,http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/som/students/academics/2012SpringMedStudentElectiveBook.pdf

No Tuition fee as of the date of Publication of this Edition.

8. Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic Clerkships Page 

http://www.mayo.edu/msgme/visiting-medical-student-clerkships

Brief Info: Step 1 – NR, TOEFL – NR if medium of education is English (Check College Status on IMED) MPI – NR (Provided by mayo itself upon acceptance)
Everything is Electronic , No Paper form submission. You have to submit 2 LoRs and 1 Medical School Verification form. Mayo has 3 branches (Minnesota, Florida & Arizona) Minnesota is the Main Branch & Florida Requires Step 2 Scores also. Visit:

http://www.mayo.edu/msgme/visiting-medical-student-clerkships/elective-descriptions

 Very Highly Reputed institution. LoRs Obtained from Mayo’s highly reputed faculty Hold a Very Strong Value.

9. University of Rochester*

UoR Visiting Students Page 

http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/education/md/prospective-students/cached/information-application.cfm

Brief Info: Step 1 – NR, TOEFL – Req, MPI – NR, Technical Standard form has to be filled (Not in any other University) Link to the form:http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/education/md/documents/technical-standards.pdf

  

10. Southwestern Medical School TX

SouthWestern Medical School University of Texas

http://www4.utsouthwestern.edu/stuaff//stuinfo/0203/VisStuInst-rev%20042003.htm

Visit the Electives Catalogue Page athttp://medschool.swmed.edu/fourth.htm

They also provide HIPAA training at their Website, Visit: https://sws001.swmed.edu/selfTraining/Home

Brief Info: Step 1 – Depends upon the Department you are applying to, TOEFL – NR, MPI – Req.

No Tuition fee as of the Date of Publishing of this Edition.

11. Suny Upstate Medical University

http://www.upstate.edu/currentstudents/academic/records/vsprocedures.php

12. Suny Downstate Medical University

http://sls.downstate.edu/registrar/visiting/index.html

http://sls.downstate.edu/registrar/visiting/international/index.html

Brief Info: Step 1 – Req, TOEFL – Req, MPI – Req, See this Checklist to fulfill all the Requirements -http://sls.downstate.edu/registrar/visiting/international/documents/IntlVSchecklist12_09final.pdf

& this one is the link to visit the application form page,http://sls.downstate.edu/registrar/visiting/international/documents/IntlVisitingStudentApp_12_09.pdf

No Tuition fee as of the Date of Publishing of this Edition.

13. Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University*

http://www.einstein.yu.edu/education/student-affairs/registrar/visiting-students/

13. CASE School of Medicine

http://casemed.case.edu/registrar/applications/

Brief Info: Step 1 – Req, TOEFL – Req, MPI – Req

No Tuition fee as of the Date of Publishing of this Edition.

14. Cleveland Clinic

http://www.clevelandclinic.org/education/mse/requirements.asp

No Tuition fee as of the Date of Publishing of this Edition.

15. National Institute of Health (NIH)

http://www.cc.nih.gov/training/students/clinical_electives.html

No Tuition fee as of the Date of Publishing of this Edition.

16. University of Connecticut

http://medicine.uchc.edu/prospective/visiting/pdfs/foreignapp.pdf

No Tuition fee as of the Date of Publishing of this Edition.

17. Henry ford Health System (Michigan)

http://www.henryford.com/body_program.cfm?id=37384

No Tuition fee as of the Date of Publishing of this Edition.

18. New York University (NYU) School of Medicine

http://www.med.nyu.edu/registrar/electives/requirements_non_lcme.html

No Tuition fee as of the Date of Publishing of this Edition.

19. University of North Carolina

http://www.med.unc.edu/oia/visiting-international-students/online-application

20. University of Kansas School of Medicine

http://www.kumc.edu/international/electives.html

No Tuition fee as of the Date of Publishing of this Edition.

21. Tufts University School of Medicine

http://medicine.tufts.edu/Who-We-Are/Administrative-Offices/Office-of-International-Affairs

No Tuition fee as of the Date of Publishing of this Edition.

P.S- Tuition fee is Zero does not mean application fee is also ZERO. Check the Application fee on the Respective Elective Pages I have shared above. Tuition fee matters more & stays more or less constant over long periods of time so I Shared it here while Application fee are more variable & usually affordable & Small Compared to the hefty Tuition fees. So i thought of Sharing above only. Further more, Application fee is the fee you have to pay with the application in order to Apply for an elective. Tuition fee is the fee you have to pay once you get selected & are called to Participate in the Electives. Accommodation may or may not be Provided by the Institutions. Check Individual Pages for more information on Accommodation. :) :)

& & & Last but Not the Least & I would say a Very Very Useful link is this one below. You can filter Searches & find a Place that Suits you. So you all must check this out. :)

It’s a List by the AAMC (American Association of Medical Colleges) itself ;)

On-Line Extramural Electives Compendium 

https://services.aamc.org/eec/students/index.cfm

 NOTE: ‘NR’ Refers to ‘Not required for applying’ furthermore, Electives marked * do not have a Step 1 requirement as of the day of publishing of this edition. But rules keep changing so please check out every Site’s link for updated info.

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'End of Preview'


Check out the full e-Book at 

http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/us-clinical-electives-a-to-z-volume-1/13566602

or Click on the Book Covers Shown, 

Have a Great Day!! :) :)