How to Apply

Clinical electives are four weeks long and are available, space permitting, to full-time students in good academic standing who are enrolled in their final year at approved medical schools. Variations on the rotation dates are not possible. Elective dates are NOT flexible and may be found on the Elective Calendar. VIMS may not apply for core clerkships or sub-internships or certain other electives which are indicated on the Clinical Elective Catalogue.

Students remain registered at their own schools while participating in clinical electives at Alpert Medical School.

Students must be in their FINAL year of medical school in order to be eligible for the program and must be fluent in English.

Students may take clinical electives at Alpert Medical School for a maximum of six (6) months.

PAYMENT OF FEES

• Do not send cash or personal checks. We are not responsible for any fees sent in cash. 
• Cashier checks must be paid in U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank. 
• Applications sent with checks not drawn on U.S. banks will be considered incomplete and returned.
• American Express money orders may be used for payment in U.S. dollars.
• Cashier checks or money orders must be payable to Brown University.
• The application fee must be paid separately from the clerkship tuition.  Do not combine your payments for the application fee and tuition in the same check or money order. 
• The tuition fee may be wired.  Contact VIMS@Brown.edu for instructions.
• The application fee may NOT be wire transferred. Any application fees that are wire transferred will be returned to you and could result in your not being scheduled. 

APPLICATION FEE

The student will submit an application processing fee in the form of a cashier's check drawn on an American bank or American Express money order (see Payment of Fees) in the amount of $100.00 US payable to Brown University for each rotation for which they are applying as well as the tuition fee [see item (i) below]. The processing fee is non-refundable, whether or not you are scheduled, and it may not be carried over to another month. Please do not enclose ONE processing fee of $100.00 and ask us to consider your application for the SAME elective for three different months. If you do, we will choose the earliest month.

TUITION FEES

The Medical School will levy tuition prorated by the duration of study. The tuition will reflect that of the Brown medical students. For each 4-week rotation that the international student is scheduled, he/she will pay [$3,300 US May 1, 2009-April 30, 2010] or [$3,500 US May 1, 2010-April 30, 2011], payable to Brown University in the form of a cashier's check drawn on an American bank, American Express money order, or wired funds (see Payment of Fees). Tuition is due at the time of application in order to secure a firm commitment. If for some reason, the international medical student is denied acceptance, the tuition will be refunded. Once the tuition has been paid, the student may not receive a refund of the tuition within 3 months of the clinical elective. Acceptance for an elective is made on a first‐come, first‐served basis. Priority in scheduling electives is given to Brown students up until May 15 of each year. Applications for the next academic year will be accepted after mid‐March. Please adhere to our schedule of dates (see calendar). Since the availability of particular electives vary, we suggest that you request alternative electives and/or dates.

APPLICATION

The student will submit an Application for Visiting Clinical Elective for each elective being requested which should include proposed dates, making sure the prerequisites for each clinical elective are met.

AN APPLICATION MUST BE SUBMITTED IN ONE PACKET. ALL APPLICATIONS MUST BE COMPLETE OR WILL BE RETURNED TO SENDER. DUE TO SHEAR VOLUME OF APPLICATIONS, WE CANNOT HOLD APPLICATIONS FOR SUPPLEMENTAL OR MISSING INFORMATION. The application must be received at least 4 months in advance of the clinical elective, but no earlier than six months before you hope to attend. No scheduling will be done unless the application packet is complete.

The application packet must include the following:

  1. The completed Clinical Elective Application form.
  2. A letter from the Dean of the student's medical school including reference to the current good academic standing of the applicant, and attesting to the student's use of written and verbal English sufficient to communicate with patients, medical faculty and others.
  3. A current transcript
  4. A letter from a faculty member who has worked directly on a clinical rotation with the student, preferably a faculty member in one of the specialties for which the student is requesting an elective in (e.g., for ENT, a surgeon; for GI, an internist).
  5. A list of the clerkships that you have completed.
  6. A completed immunization form (included in the Application for Visiting Clinical Elective). Please do not send copies of your immunization records-immunizations must be documented on the form provided.
  7. Proof of malpractice and health insurance coverage for the time period being applied for. Proof of coverage must be in English; coverage must extend for your entire stay at Brown. (Coverage provided by the Medical Defense Union is unacceptable.) Alpert Medical School does not provide malpractice insurance for VIMS during their Brown clinical elective. A local company that provides malpractice coverage to international students is Medical Malpractice Joint Underwriters Association at 401-369-8244.
  8. Proof that the student has attended an educational session on the prevention of bloodborne and airborne pathogen infection in compliance with OSHA regulations.
  9. Provide a signed copy of Brown University's Tenets of Community Behavior of the University and the Medical School (included in the Application for Visiting Clinical Elective).

PROCESSING

Please send all required documents together in ONE packet. We receive large numbers of applications each year and it is impossible for us to keep track of application pieces unless they arrive together. If your school will not allow you to have an official copy of your transcript, we suggest that you take the rest of your application materials to your Dean or Registrar' s office and ask them to send it after enclosing an official transcript. We will not accept a list of courses submitted by the student in lieu of an official transcript.

Once you are scheduled for a clinical elective, no changes in the assignment are allowed. The Clerkship Coordinator and the Associate Dean of Medicine (VIMS) will review the applications and send an acceptance with the dates of the clinical electives. If there is concern about the student's preparedness for the elective, the student may be asked to submit future information or they may be denied an elective.

If we are able to schedule you for a clinical elective, you will receive a scheduling letter emailed to you approximately 2 to 3 months prior to the start of a clinical elective verifying your assignment. Be sure to bring this letter with you when you come to Providence; this document serves as your identification card when you arrive.

AT BROWN

Upon arrival at Brown, the student will receive a welcome packet from the Manager (VIMS), Hilary Sweigart, and provide her with their Providence address, email address, and local phone number.

Upon successful completion of an elective, the student will receive an evaluation of their academic performance in that elective, and a Certificate of Attendance from the Associate Dean (VIMS). Additional special letters cannot be requested from the clinical elective course leader or the Associate Dean (VIMS).

Note: Registration and continued participation in clinical electives are based on satisfactory academic performance, fund of knowledge, English-language skills, and behavior.

The Associate Dean (VIMS) will be available for questions, concerns and advising as well as oversight.

COMMUNICATION

It is important to keep us updated with a current mailing address. Once you have arrived in the Providence area please contact the VIMS Manager, Hilary_Sweigart@Brown.edu, 401-863-9790, and provide your local address and telephone number.

Note: You must notify our office if you cannot attend a scheduled clinical elective within one month of the start date of the clinical elective. We will then notify the department that you will not be there. If you fail to notify our office that you will not be attending a scheduled clinical elective, we may report this to your school.

SUB-INTERNSHIPS/ADVANCED CLINICAL CLERKSHIPS

Students may choose to apply for all clinical electives listed in the Clinical Electives Catalogue with the exceptions that VIMS may NOT apply for Sub-Internships or Advanced Clinical Clerkships or certain other electives which are indicated on the Clinical Elective Catalogue.

If a student would like to petition for an exception to this rule, he/she must write to the Associate Dean of Medicine (VIMS) clearly indicating why an exception should be made. The student must document superior and advanced level of communication skills in English and, superior and advanced-level basic core clerkship experience. Exceptions will rarely be granted.

NOTE: Information and eligibility criteria for the VIMS clinical electives are subject to change. Due to the variable nature of clinical elective offerings, this office reserves the right to change elective assignments at any time. In addition, students who fail to notify the Alpert Medical School Clerkship Coordinator that they will not be attending a scheduled clinical elective within one month before the start of that rotation may be administratively withdrawn from any future clerkship. All materials submitted become the property of the Alpert Medical School. Services for disabled students are available. Please contact us immediately if you require any assistance.