# Clinical Electives



## Ashish_padnani (Mar 25, 2006)

Thankyou. Your link was very useful and inspirational too! Presently, I am studying in final MBBS in India. I would like to ask you a few questions. I have a greencard and I am planning to do clinicial electives for about 6 months in the USA.

I have visited websites of a few med schools in NY, but all of them want me to have malpractice insurance. I contacted a few insurance companies but they don't give malpractice insurance to students. I am not aware of how much it would cost to purchase malpractice insurance.

Since you have done electives in the John Hopkins, you might have undergone all of these formalities. Can you guide me more about it?

Also, does doing an elective in a med school improve my chances of getting into residency in that school?

Is the clinical elective experience considered as US Clinical experience?

Also, I want to know that while doing electives, is it possible to get time to read for the USMLE steps?


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## MastahRiz (Jan 26, 2006)

Ashish,

I can answer a few of your questions, but as for the malpractice insurance, I'm a little unsure for now. Hopefully someone else will be able to get back to you soon.

Doing an elective in a med school does not necessarily improve your chances of getting a residency at that school. Some electives are widely available to all students, and simply require that you pay your way into them. As such, it is hard to stand apart from the rest of the crowd when the same elective option has already been, and will continue to be exercised by many other students.

If you are lucky enough to find a clinical clerkship through some other means other than the same elective program as everybody else, then you will also be privy to a few benefits, such as a personalized letter of recommendation, and a personal repoire with the doctor and faculty. One such method, involves contacting doctors from different medical schools/hospitals to find an exclusive elective and simply hoping that one replies positively. There's a good chance you may be the only student who ends up doing a clinical elective with that doctor at that time, which is a major bonus.

By finding a clinical elective which is different from the standard clerkship, you can hope to boost your chances of a residency, if you are able to convince the doctor with which you work that you are worthy of one. And for foreign students, that will be an uphill battle, but is possible nonetheless.

The clinical elective experience is considered as US clinical experience.

Every elective has different hours and requirements. Some may require that you study outside of your time in the hospital, and some may be lax about what you do outside of your actual clerkship time. In other words, you may or may not have time to read for the USMLE steps, but a personal letter from a doctor of high standing at the medical school or hospital you wish to work at, will go a lot farther than a few extra points on the MLE. Your first priority at the elective should therefore be to impress your colleagues and your preceptor.


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## Rehan (Jan 26, 2006)

Ashish,

Doing an elective in a medical school can indeed increase your chances of getting into a residency in that same school provided that you make strong contacts with the faculty in your department (meaning getting letters of recommendation (LORs) from them and great evaluations) and maintain those contacts up to the point when you apply.

Usually doing a clinical elective and keeping in touch with the faculty member who you worked with does help in at least getting an interview. 

The clinical elective is definitely considered US clinical experience.

As far as getting time to study for USMLE exams while doing electives, that would depend on which specialty you are in and what the hours of that service are like. I did not find much free time while I was doing my ophthalmology elective at Johns Hopkins but I suppose that is up to the hours required by your preceptor.

In regards to malpractice insurance, I would recommend that you first of all contact the Office of the Registrar of the school that you want to attend and ask them to put you in touch with any local companies that will provide malpractice for students. 

You may want to try this website for more information about electives with information on malpractice insurance.

Hope this helps!


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## Natacha (Feb 19, 2006)

Rizwan, Have you done your clinical electives yet? If so, in what field did you do it in?


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## MastahRiz (Jan 26, 2006)

Natacha said:


> Rizwan, Have you done your clinical electives yet? If so, in what field did you do it in?


Natacha,

I haven't done my clinical electives yet, I'm starting with a few research electives before getting into clinical clerkships. My first research position will be this summer, in ophthalmology.


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## Natacha (Feb 19, 2006)

Oh ok. What hospital do you plan on doing your opthalmology research elective in?


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## MastahRiz (Jan 26, 2006)

Natacha said:


> Oh ok. What hospital do you plan on doing your opthalmology research elective in?


Doheny Eye Institute


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## Natacha (Feb 19, 2006)

Nice!  Much luck to you :!:


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## MastahRiz (Jan 26, 2006)

Natacha said:


> Nice!  Much luck to you :!:


Thanks


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## Ashish_padnani (Mar 25, 2006)

Rehan and MastahRiz,
thanx, 
ur words are a lot helpful.

Most of the med schools offer clinical elecives to international students. Now, considering that my chances of getting into residency in the med school, in which i do the elective, increases, wat criteria should i keep in mind while selecting a med school for doing an elective. This particular thing has been bothering a lot! 

Also, i m more interested in the surgical branch, but i have been told by some seniors that u dont get surgical branches in US; at the same time many opine that this is just a myth and that it may be tougher than to get into medicine, but not not actually very tough! But i have also known that there definitely is some racial discrimination in some of the states where it would be tough to get residency in surgical branch and that it wont be wise to do electives in those states. Wat r ur views on it?

thanx


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## Neurotic1234 (Mar 26, 2006)

hey ashish..which coll r u doin ur mbbs from?


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## Ashish_padnani (Mar 25, 2006)

i am in Smt. NHL Mun. Med college in Ahmedabad. What college r u in?


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## Neurotic1234 (Mar 26, 2006)

i'm from aiims, new delhi


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## Guest (Apr 17, 2006)

I wanted to ask which one is better to do a clinical elective or research elective?? which all universities allow IMG's to attend a elective??Did u have any benefit of attending a elective in John Hopkins,did they call you for a interview/match? 

Sorry for asking so many questions..bt it would be nice if you could clear my doubts? 

Is it necessary to do a elective before finishing the medical school? 

Kashish


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## MastahRiz (Jan 26, 2006)

Kashish,

Please read the rest of this topic carefully and you'll see that most of your questions have already been answered. Also, please refrain from double-posting, and if you haven't done so already, please do take a look at our forum rules found here


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## Guest (Apr 19, 2006)

i m really sorry for double post..It was by mistake..Thank you


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## MastahRiz (Jan 26, 2006)

No problem Kashish, just glad to help


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## a_adam85 (Mar 18, 2007)

what about doing a student in India? is there any advice on that? I really want to go to the northern part of India. Uttar Pradesh, or Delhi...
#confused


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## swati Rawal (Feb 15, 2010)

hi im doing my 1year compulsory internship in India...is it true that u can apply for electives only when u r a student?? will i be able to apply for them after i get my degree next year after completing the internship...or otherwise i should try now and take time off in the internship.........
also, do i need to have my step 1 scores b4 applying for elective?

Please help
*
Mod Edit: Read the forum rules, or your posts will be deleted. Thanks.*


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## MedGrunt (Feb 21, 2007)

swati Rawal said:


> hi im doing my 1year compulsory internship in India...is it true that u can apply for electives only when u r a student?? will i be able to apply for them after i get my degree next year after completing the internship...or otherwise i should try now and take time off in the internship.........
> also, do i need to have my step 1 scores b4 applying for elective?
> 
> Please help


Yes, generally only students are accepted for electives. If possible it would be best to apply for electives prior to completing your degree. It may be possible to get an elective after graduation, but it will be much more difficult to do.

Many places do not require step 1 scores, but some do. It would be best to check the prerequisites that are particular to each place you are interested in applying to.


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## pharmacology (Apr 14, 2010)

hi,guys can any one tell me which site i need to look in for hands on clinical experience in usa........????????????


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## ann00 (May 31, 2009)

Hi, i want to do clinical elective in US. i am citizen. i am studying in 4th year at DMC. i want to know is USMLE score required for me to get elective in US? what else will i be needing or do i need to kno to get in to US electives. thanks


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## 4003 (Aug 12, 2008)

Electives USA are catering Pakistani medical students now. Let them know what you want to do, and they may be of great help.
http://medstudentz.com/pakistan-medical-schools/2289-electives-usa-pakistani-medical-students.html


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## MastahRiz (Jan 26, 2006)

ann00 said:


> Hi, i want to do clinical elective in US. i am citizen. i am studying in 4th year at DMC. i want to know is USMLE score required for me to get elective in US? what else will i be needing or do i need to kno to get in to US electives. thanks


Double posting is not allowed. Read the forum rules or your posts are going to be deleted. Standard web-forum etiquette please. Thanks.


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## oliver (Apr 22, 2011)

These rotations can be done by International / Foreign Medical Students who are currently enrolled in Medical Schools - mostly 4th Year students .


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## ElegantDrJ (May 11, 2011)

Hello, i am Jessica a medical student from Nigeria. Pls i would love to do my elective posting in South africa (cardiology, emergency medicine, or any other). Can any help me on how to go about it (hopitals or schools). Thanks.


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## star child (Aug 18, 2009)

ann00 said:


> Hi, i want to do clinical elective in US. i am citizen. i am studying in 4th year at DMC. i want to know is USMLE score required for me to get elective in US? what else will i be needing or do i need to kno to get in to US electives. thanks


Does having a US citizenship benefit you in getting an elective if you are a FMG? Or are the chances the same as all FMG's?


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## Waleed90 (Jan 15, 2011)

star child said:


> Does having a US citizenship benefit you in getting an elective if you are a FMG? Or are the chances the same as all FMG's?


I would imagine having US citizenship would benefit in landing an elective.


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## Rehan (Jan 26, 2006)

star child said:


> Does having a US citizenship benefit you in getting an elective if you are a FMG? Or are the chances the same as all FMG's?


Being a US citizen can help you in two ways.

First of all, if you tell the program that you're applying to that you're a citizen, it means much less paperwork for them. They don't have to deal with their international student department for visa letters or ask for proof of how you will support yourself while in the US, etc, etc.

The second way that it helps is that you are able to go for the shorter breaks that your medical school will give you. When I was in med school, the people who had visa issues were sometimes given their visas way too late and they would miss the chance to go abroad during their summer or winter vacation. Also, a lot of times the year's schedule of classes can change in Pakistan and you end up having vacation at an unanticipated time for a few weeks. For non-US citizens, going through the process of applying for a visa and hoping that it arrives in time was usually out of the question.

So the short answer is yes it does matter, the long answer is that you will face some of the hardships as outline above if you don't have a passport. But the overall truth is that if you plan well and work towards it, the visa issue should not hold non-US citizens back from getting plenty of research and clinical experience in the US. I had plenty of people at my medical college who were not citizens and were still able to get accepted into some of the best universities in America for research and clinical electives.


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