Externships
Externships are also known as away electives.
How to Setup an Externship Heading link
Step 1–get approval
Fourth-year students may take clinical electives outside of the UIC system. Requests to take experiences at Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accredited medical schools require approval of the Program Director at the LCME-Accredited medical school.
Step 2–schedule through the Office of the Registrar
Students who obtain approval must schedule the elective with the OSA office and register for the experience through UIC Web for Students through the Office of the Registrar. Students who fail to schedule these externships will have no record of the experience on their transcript and will not receive credit from the College towards graduation.
You must provide a description of the elective at the outside institution, including its goals, objectives, and the method by which you will be evaluated. For LCME-Accredited medical schools the elective description can usually be photocopied from the school’s catalog.
Procedure for Scheduling Electives at LCME-Accredited Medical Schools Heading link
- Contact the medical school where you want to schedule an elective or us the Visiting Student Learning Opportunities (VSLO). (See the AAMC Extramural Elective Compendium)
- Complete the externship application for that medical school. The Office of Student Affairs will assist you if necessary. Please Submit the Students Request Form (SRF) for documentation that you need to complete the application, e.g. letter of good standing, malpractice insurance information, immunization documentation, etc.
- Submit your letter of acceptance, a copy of the elective description, Year 4 Scheduling Form to the OSA or submit a Student Scheduling Request .
- Register for the elective via UIC Student Portal through the UI COM Office of the Registrar.
NOTE: Your acceptance at an LCME-Accredited medical school does not guarantee that the UIC College of Medicine will give you credit for the experience. If you fail to submit the scheduling documentation four weeks prior to the start of the externship, you will NOT receive credit for the elective.
Electives at Non-LCME (Liaison Committee on Medical Education) medical schools are usually electives offered by foreign medical schools, i.e., “international electives.” However, this category can also include scholarship experiences at hospices, hospitals, clinics, public health facilities, etc.
Procedure for Scheduling Electives at Non LCME-Accredited Medical Schools Heading link
In general, the procedures for scheduling these electives are similar to those for scheduling electives from LCME medical schools as described above. Students should provide a complete description of the experience including activities, objectives to be met, time spent, location, supervising faculty member, and mechanism for evaluation. These electives also require additional review and authorizations by UI COM. Submit your letter of acceptance, a copy of the elective description, Year 4 Scheduling Form to the OSA or submit a Student Scheduling Request.
For International electives, the scheduling documentation will then be submitted to the Dean of International Affairs for review and approval to be added to the students schedule. For non-LCME electives that are not international electives, the scheduling documentation will then be submitted to the Associate Dean of Curriculum for review and approval to be added to the students schedule.
Information on international health electives is available on the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) website , the AMA Office of International Medicine.
3/14/15