M4 Electives

Guidelines

OBJECTIVES

1. To encourage further development of basic science interest.
2. To provide an opportunity for intensive development in a specific area of clinical interest.
3. To extend the understanding of medical practice by exposure to medical care programs both in the United States and abroad.
4. To provide an opportunity to stimulate further in depth study of elective programs already initiated by the student.

POLICIES

1. General
1. All students are required to take U.S. Medical Licensing Examination Step 2 CK and CS for the first time after completion of their M-III year and need to take Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS by November 1, 2012, and failure to do so may result in dismissal. M4 students are required to pass USMLE Step 2 CK and CS for GRADUATION REQUIREMENT. Students who do not pass Step 2 CK or CS within one year of completion of all other requirements for the MD degree will be dismissed from school.
2. By December 3rd of the M3 year, each student must notify the Electives Office of their intended primary area of interest for residency training. Based upon this area of interest, the student will be assigned an M4 Advisor. It is expected that the student will meet with the M4 Advisor to select an elective schedule. The M4 Advisor must sign off on the elective lottery schedule prior to submission to the Electives Office. The elective lottery schedule will be submitted to the Electives Office no later than Monday, May 7, 2012.
3. Each student must complete one approved acting internship during the M4 year. A student may take up to one additional acting internship within a given department. If a student wishes to take more than two acting internships within the same department, he/she must obtain approval from his/her M4 Advisor, the Assistant Dean of Medical Student Education for students at the INOVA Northern Virginia Division or the Associate Dean of Student Affairs on the MCV campus.
4. All INOVA Students that will take M4 electives at VCU will need to get the VCU Health Sciences ID and you will need to be scheduled for CIS Training to learn the hospital electronic medical record. You will need to let Mrs. Nancy Jackson know so that she can schedule you for this training before you arrive or either on the second day of your M4 elective and to report to her on the first day of the M4 Elective so that you can get your VCU Health Sciences ID.
5. Students may take no more than four non-clinical electives in the M4 year. Included in the definition of non-clinical electives is research, reading electives, and the USMLE Step 2 board study.
6. Student may take no more than four away electives. Two of these may be international. Please refer to the “Policy and Procedure for Students Taking Extramural Domestic Electives” and the “Policy and Procedure for Students Taking Extramural International Electives.”
7. All students are required to take one Urgent Care month. MCV Campus students may select from:
1. Emergency Medicine - #1004
2. Anesthesiology - #0200
3. Medical Respiratory Intensive Care Unit - #4462 & #8807
4. Surgical Trauma Intensive Care Unit - #8803
5. Trauma & Emergency Surgery - #2552
6. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit - #5250
7. Pediatric Intensive Care Unit - #9575
8. INOVA students may select from:
1. Medical Intensive Care Unit - #4465
2. CCC - INOVA - #4471
3. Pediatric ICU - #1402
4. General Emergency Medicine - #1000
5. Pediatric Emergency Medicine - #1002
6. Surgical ICU - #8804
7. Anesthesiology - #0202
9. Try not to schedule your A.I. or Urgent Care electives during Time Period 5 because of your interviews, but if you need too you can schedule these during Time Period 5.
10. Students who have M3 requirements to complete must schedule this work with the Curriculum Office and the make-up should be completed before December 2011.
11. Students who may be eligible for AOA are not allowed to postpone more than one month of an M3 clerkship into the M4 year and still be considered for AOA. All grades for M4 electives taken during the M3 year must be received by the Curriculum Office by August 23rd in order for class rank to be accurately calculated. Class rank is one factor on which AOA election is based. Students should refer to the AOA web site for more information.
12. If a preceptor considers a student to be performing unsatisfactorily, he/she will report this to the Electives Office, while at the same time notifying the student.
13. If a student is absent from an elective, he/she must immediately notify the preceptor of that elective and Nancy Jackson in the Electives Office at 804-828-9784.

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2. Policy And Procedure For Students Taking Extramural Domestic Electives
   
1. Extramural domestic electives include all educational activities that are not specifically required by the School of Medicine for purposes of graduation, and involve educational programs outside of Virginia Commonwealth University, the Virginia Commonwealth University Health Care System or the School of Medicine affiliated healthcare institutions, but within the continental United States.
2. Credit for no more than four extramural electives will be recognized by VCU/the VCU School of Medicine.
3. The procedure for arranging extramural domestic electives is as follows:
   • The student contacts a physician/faculty member at the hosting institution and its Office of Student Affairs, or a similar designated office responsible for managing electives.
   • The student obtains an application from the hosting institution to arrange for the program and dates, including a letter from the preceptor at the institution where the elective is planned. The letter must contain a detailed description of the elective, method of assessment and the agreement of the preceptor to sponsor and supervise the student for the experience.
   • The student completes his/her part of the application. For elective sites that do not have a formal application, the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine Application for Extramural Course or Clerkship [PDF] must be used.
   • The student completes the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine Agreement and Release Form [PDF] for each domestic elective.
   • The application for the elective and the Agreement and Release Form are submitted by the student to Mrs. Nancy Jackson, Electives Coordinator on the Richmond campus.
   • If the student is spending his/her M3/M4 years on the Richmond campus, the above materials are reviewed by the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and signed as an indication that the elective is deemed a legitimate educational experience and the student may participate. If the student is spending his/her M3/M4 years at the INOVA Northern Virginia Division of the School of Medicine, the above materials are either mailed or faxed to Mrs. Nancy Jackson after being reviewed by the Assistant Dean of Medical Student Education for the INOVA Northern Virginia Division and signed as an indication that the elective is deemed a legitimate educational experience and the student may participate.
   • After review by the appropriate Deans, Mrs. Nancy Jackson, Electives Coordinator sends a letter of good standing, transcript, immunization record, proof of malpractice insurance, the school seal, and if requested, a letter of recommendation from a faculty member. Copies are made for the student’s permanent file.
   • Upon completion of the elective, the electives coordinator sends the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine electives’ evaluation form to the preceptor for completion.
   • Students are solely responsible for all costs/fees involved in taking an extramural elective.

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3. Policy And Procedure For Students Taking Extramural International Electives
   
   1. Extramural international electives include all educational activities that are not specifically required by the School of Medicine for purposes of graduation, and involve educational programs outside of the continental United States.
   2. Credit for no more than four extramural electives will be recognized by VCU/the VCU School of Medicine. Two of these may be international.
   3. The procedure for arranging extramural international electives is as follows:
      • The student contacts a physician/faculty member at the hosting institution and their Office of Student Affairs, or a similar designated office responsible for managing electives.
      • The student obtains an application from the hosting institution to arrange for the program and dates, including a letter from the preceptor at the institution where the elective is planned. The letter must contain a detailed description of the elective, method of assessment and that the preceptor agrees to sponsor and supervise the student for the experience.
      • The student completes his/her part of the application. For elective sites that do not have a formal application, the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine Application for Extramural Course or Clerkship [PDF] must be used.
      • In addition, the student completes the Virginia Commonwealth University Application for International Independent Study and Agreement and Release Form [PDF] for each international elective.
      • The application for the elective is submitted by the student to Mrs. Nancy Jackson, the Electives Coordinator on the Richmond Campus.
      • The applicant needs to contact Student Health four months in advance for any immunizations for international electives.
      • The Application for International Independent Study and Agreement and Release are submitted to the Office of International Education for Virginia Commonwealth University and a copy must be submitted to Mrs. Nancy Jackson. This application must be submitted at least 15 business days prior to departure. Students are required to buy the International Student Identification Card (ISIC). To obtain the ISIC, the student must include a passport sized photograph and a check for $22.00 (payable to VCU).
      • If the student is spending his/her M3/M4 years on the Richmond campus, the above materials are reviewed by the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and signed as an indication that the elective is deemed a legitimate educational experience and the student may participate. If the student is spending his/her M3/M4 years at the INOVA Northern Virginia Division of the School of Medicine, the above materials are faxed to Mrs. Nancy Jackson after being reviewed by the Assistant Dean of Medical Student Education for the INOVA Northern Virginia Division and signed as an indication that the elective is deemed a legitimate educational experience and the student may participate.
      • After review by the appropriate Deans, the electives coordinator sends a letter of good standing, transcript, immunization record, proof of malpractice insurance, the school seal, and if requested, a letter of recommendation from a faculty member. Copies are made for the student’s permanent file.
      • Upon completion of the elective, the assistant electives coordinator sends the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine electives’ evaluation form to the preceptor for completion.
      • Students are solely responsible for all costs/fees involved in taking an extramural elective.

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4. Evaluations
1. Students must receive grades for all their electives and those leaving the U.S. must get their grade sheet before they leave and take it with them. It is the student’s responsibility to bring the evaluation back with them and to submit it to the Electives Office.
2. Students who receive an unsatisfactory evaluation from a preceptor will be interviewed by the Associate Dean for Student Affairs on the Richmond Campus or by the Assistant Dean at the INOVA Campus.
   
5. Changes in Elective Requests
1. Any student request for a change in an elective may do so by the deadline dates.
2. REQUESTS FOR CHANGES MUST BE MADE BY THE DEADLINE DATES OR YOU WILL HAVE TO GET WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE PRECEPTOR WHO CAN RELEASE YOU OR SAY IT IS TOO LATE TO BE RELEASED FROM THEIR ELECTIVE.
3. Changes will only be accepted for entire elective periods and must coincide with the beginning and end of the period.
4. Changes to the final elective schedule must be approved by the student’s M4 Advisor prior to submission to the Electives Office.

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6. Internship Interview Weeks

Special time has been provided in your schedule for internship/residency interviewing (January 3-27, 2012). We expect all of you to be able to complete your intern interviewing during the allotted time. Students in the Armed Forces and those applying for early match may need to plan to use a different time for interviewing. Time Period 5 has been allotted also for interviewing; so whatever you have signed up for during time period 5 you will do during January 3-27, 2012. YOU WILL HAVE TO LET NANCY JACKSON IN THE ELECTIVES OFFICE KNOW BY OCT. 25th IF YOU NEED TO INTERVIEW DURING TIME PERIOD 5. AFTER THAT DATE YOU WILL HAVE TO GET WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM ELECTIVE COORDINATOR. Where correspondence will substantiate that the program cannot interview the student during the uniform period, exceptions to the uniform interview dates may be made by the ELECTIVE COORDINATOR. It is anticipated that this will rarely be necessary.

7. IN DECEMBER 1987, THE PROMOTIONS COMMITTEE DECIDED THAT THE TRANSCRIPTS OF ALL STUDENTS RECEIVING AN UNSATISFACTORY SENIOR GRADE (M OR F) WOULD BE UPDATED AND SENT TO ALL INSTITUTIONS WHERE THAT STUDENT HAS APPLIED FOR INTERNSHIP/RESIDENCY.
8. Courses with Limited Enrollment

Those students interested in seeking residency positions in certain AI's and Urgent Care electives, should schedule them early between time periods 1 thru 4. Those that are interested in doing these electives for experience, please schedule them during time periods 5 thru 8 to give those interested in the above electives for residency a chance to schedule them early. You can always come by the Electives Office to see if the other time periods are full.

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