Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine Office of Student Affairs

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Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of
MedicineOffice of Student Affairs

• CLASS OF 2010
• INTRODUCTION TO FOURTH YEAR SCHEDULING PLANNING

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Agenda

• Fourth Year Clerkship Track System
• Lottery Process
• Required clerkships
• Elective requirements, registration VSAS
• USMLE Step 2 requirements timing
• Residency Planning Future Meetings
• Online Resources

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Table of Contents

• Slides 4 12 4th Year Overview
• 13 19 Required Clerkships (Sub-Is and Neuro)
• 20 25 Electives
• 26 30 4th Year by Season
• 31 33 Intramural Electives
• 34 43 Extramural Electives
• 45 46 Discretionary Time
• 47 49 Step 2 Exams
• 50 53 Prep for Residency Application

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Handout

• Clerkship Track System and Its Policies
• Lottery Timeline
• Lottery Numbers
• Fourth Year Calendar
• Timeline for Elective Registration Calendar

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Calendar

• Yr 4 starts July 6, 2009 (July Period 9A)
• Will there be a start of year orientation program
  this year? TBA
• Qtrly break weeks at end of Sept, December, none
  formally assigned at end of March
• Match Day and Graduation dates tentatively posted

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Fourth Year Overview of Requirements

• 12 weeks of core clerkships (Neuro, Sub-I Wards,
  Sub-I ICU)
• 34 weeks of elective clerkships
• Bioethics Requirements
• Completion of Ethics Case Paper
• Completion of Ethics Grand Rounds (min. of 4
  sessions)
• USMLE Step 2 CK and CS

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Core Clerkships

• One 4-week Wards Subinternship
• Available periods all periods 9A (July) through
  12A (April), except 10C (December)
• One 4-week Critical Care Subinternship
• Available periods all periods 9A (July) through
  12A (April), except 10C (December)
• One 4-week Neurology Clerkship
• Available periods all periods 9A (July) through
  12A (April)

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Bioethics Requirement

• Ethics case paper due July 10, 2009
• Four Ethics Grand Rounds must be completed
  cumulatively over 2nd, 3rd and 4th years

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Elective Curriculum

• 34 weeks available in track
• 26 weeks minimum graduation requirement
• 8 weeks additional elective time or
  discretionary time (use DT for USMLE study,
  residency interview time, personal, etc.)

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Fourth Yr Track Features

• Flexibility
• Opportunity for student choice
• One required core clerkship and two electives in
  each of first three quarters
• Availability of at least half of the elective
  time in first half of the year

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Fourth Yr Track System

• Assigned to track by lottery
• Computer generated lottery number
• Rank order all tracks
• Submit rank form by January 28, 2009 on myLUMEN

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Picking a track

• Consider what your elective and residency choice
  needs may be in each quarter
• Consider when you might take USMLE Step 2 CK and
  CS
• Consider which core clerkships could prep you
  best for the key electives you will take

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Attendance

• Limited time off for serious reasons in both
  subinternships and neurology (3 days including
  weekend days)
• Final exam schedule is NOT changeable
• Plan holiday or interview travel after only
  determining the date time of day of exams
• Labor Day is holiday but not a 3 day weekend if
  service team is not off

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Clerkship Requirements

• Purpose and Assignment Process

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Subinternships

• 4-weeks in-pt medicine (Sub-I Wards) at LU,
  VA, MacNeal, or West Sub
• 4-weeks intensive care unit in medicine,
  surgery, pediatrics, or OB (Sub-I ICU) at LU,
  VA, MacNeal, Resurrection, or West Sub

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Purpose of subinternships

• Focus on skills and attitudes necessary to care
  for hospitalized and critically ill patients
• Emphasis is on patient care in the context of
  wards or ICU emphasis not on the specialty
• Thus, subinternships are posted on SSOM
  transcript without specialty noted (transcript
  reads only Subintern-Wards and Subintern-ICU)

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Subinternship assignments

• Opportunity will be provided to submit preference
  rank lists for site/service
• Assignments by lottery to services sites by
  late winter through Dr. Fitzs office (separate
  lottery process, using track rank list in reverse
  order)

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Neurology Clerkship

• In- and out-patient experiences
• LUMC and HVA hospital sites
• Site assignment by lottery about a month before
  the clerkship starts

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Rescheduling Sub-I or Neuro

• Changes may be possible according to track system
  traffic rules
• May trade entire track or individual clerkship
• After Subinternship site/service assignments are
  created, changes must be initiated through Debi
  Kurcab in the Med Dept.

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ELECTIVES

• Policies registration process
• Purpose of elective curriculum
• How to design your program

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Electives

• Course Descriptions online in SSOM Elective
  Catalog
• Usually are 4 weeks in length
• Several 2-week electives available
• At least 20 weeks of your elective program must
  consist of full time electives that are at least
  4-weeks in length
• 26 weeks of electives minimum graduation
  requirement

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Electives (continued)

• 12 weeks of elective time permitted away
• 12 weeks permitted in any specialty
• Excludes time in core clerkships in the specialty
• Includes electives at Loyola and away
• Includes clinical and research courses
• Other elective policies in catalog preface

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Purpose of Electives

• Broadens strengthens clinical experience
• Tests interest in an area of specialization
• Provides research or special opportunities
• Permits self determination responsibility for
  content of program

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Building Your Elective Program Content

• Use Specialty Elective Guide at online Loyola
  Elective Catalog site
• Talk to faculty advisor(s)
• Attend department sessions ask questions
• Talk to faculty in your field(s) of interest
• See Dean Wronski or Dean Mendez for input
• Attend SAS programs

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Keep Objectives in Mind

• Electives should provide a broad-based
  educational opportunity
• They are not intended solely as a residency job
  search tool
• What you take is critical to your preparation for
  internship/residency and USMLE Step 2
• Dont get lost in where and when strategy only

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4th Year Goals by Season

• Focus of each quarter

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Summer Goals

• Solidify specialty interest
• May/may not need to take specialty elective at
  Loyola to earn a recommendation letter (depends
  on prior exposure)
• Summer work may bump up performance level
• Courses provides prep for important externships
• May need study wks/month for early USMLE Step 2
• Preparation of residency application starts
• Externships start

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Fall Goals

• Externships continue
• Residency interview season kicks in will you
  need time off? Should you take DT?
• Should you plan an away elective geographically
  to place you in proximity to residency interview
  locales?
• Sept/Oct courses could still produce residency
  recommendation letters

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Winter Goals

• Take courses to round out your education
• Prepare for starting a residency (what do you
  still need to learn?)
• Prepare for Step 2 and block study time if still
  pending
• Rank residencies for match (late Jan-Feb)

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Spring Goals

• Complete graduation requirements
• Take enrichment courses
• Take residency prep electives offered at SSOM
• Get tuitions worth by staying enrolled
• Take DT for personal/transitional use

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Elective Registration Process

• How When to Register
• Hopefully, you will be first class to use online
  elective registration system

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Loyola (intramural) elective sign up

• Through submission of an application
• Must adhere to the official timetable for
  elective registration
• Sign up starts about 5 months in advance of the
  each elective months start date

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Elective RegistrationIntramurals (Loyola)

• Review course descriptions policies in elective
  catalog online
• Online elective registration through myLUMEN
  anticipated to go live this year (currently a
  work in progress)
• Pilot year, so bear with us if any early glitches
• More info from ORR closer to first opening
  registration date (Mar. 5th)

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Externships (extramural electives)

• Up to 12 weeks permitted away usually through
  another US med school
• Loyola sign up Timetable does NOT apply
• Reference AAMC Extramural Elective Compendium for
  timeline, websites, contact person at site (link
  available at Loyola Elective Catalog website)
• Sign up 1 5 months in advance of start date
  typically April mid-May for summer courses.
• CHECK YOUR EXTRAMURAL SITES SIGN UP DATE!

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Purpose of externships

• To get an excellent learning experience
• To help narrow specialty interests
• To see a program of interest first hand
• To work with an outstanding faculty
• To show your stuff perhaps get a recommendation
  letter
• To assess a programs compatibility with your
  needs
• To do unique non-hospital based experiences

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Do you need to do 3 externships (12 weeks)?

• It depends
• On your interests, profile, specialty field and
  geographical considerations
• Most students should do one or two
• Some specialties discourage more than one
  elective in the field others promote student
  enrollment in several. SEEK ADVICE!

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Externship Course descriptions

• Online at other schools web site
• Or provided by schools contact office (listed in
  AAMC Extramural Compendium)

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Extramural Registration

• Review policies in SSOM catalog
• Review visiting student policies in other
  schools catalog
• How you apply depends on the school you are
  applying to either will use VSAS or will
  complete a paper application packet and submit to
  ORR for processing

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Visiting Student Application Service

• Developed by AAMC
• 08-09 was its pilot year (10 host schools in
  program)
• This year 2nd year 63 schools will use VSAS
• If the school you are applying to is on the list
  on the next slides, you will apply to your
  elective through VSAS
• More info about VSAS forthcoming from ORR

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VSAS Host Schools 09-10
  -Northeast Schools-  Albany Medical
College Boston University Columbia
University Dartmouth Medical School George
Washington University Georgetown University Mount
Sinai New York Medical College Pennsylvania
State University State Univ. of NY at
Buffalo State University of NY Upstate Stony
Brook University Temple University University of
Connecticut University of Massachusetts University
of Rochester University of Vermont Weill
Cornell ( VSAS host school status pending)  

• -Central Schools- 
• Creighton University
• Loyola University Chicago
• Ohio State University
• Southern Illinois University
• University of Iowa 
• University of Kansas
• University of Michigan
• University of Minnesota
• U of Missouri - Columbia
• U of Missouri - Kansas City
• Wash. U in St. Louis
• Wright State University

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VSAS Host Schools Cont.

• -Southern Schools- 
• Brody SOM at East Carolina U
• Emory University
• Medical University of South Carolina
• Mercer University
• Texas AM Health Science Center
• Tulane University
• University of Alabama
• University of Arkansas
• University of Florida
• University of Kentucky
• University of Louisville
• University of Miami Miller
• University of Mississippi
• U of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• University of Oklahoma  
• University of South Florida
• University of Tennessee
• University of Texas HSC, San Antonio

• -Western Schools-   Loma Linda
  University Oregon Health Science
  UniversityUniversity of Arizona University of
  California, IrvineUniversity of California, San
  Diego University of California, San
  FranciscoUniversity of Colorado Denver
  University of HawaiiUniversity of
  NevadaUniversity of New MexicoUniversity of
  Washington

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Extramural Registrationfor schools not using VSAS

• Complete Loyolas extramural application AND
• Complete other institutions Visiting Student
  Application
• Often possible to list more than one date or
  several elective preferences
• Compile supporting documents submit to Tess
  Kazda in ORR
• Dean Mendez will review and approve application
  application packet will then be mailed by ORR to
  extramural school

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Extramural Registrationfor schools not using VSAS
Typical Supporting documents

• Proof of liability coverage
• Current immunization record
• Proof of UP/OSHA/HIPAA training
• Proof of hospitalization insurance
• Possibly SSOM transcript
• Possibly faculty/deans letter of recommendation
• Possibly criminal background check record
• Affiliation agreement? Memo of Understanding?

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Elective Add/Drop Policy

• Add register for electives at least one month
  prior to start date
• Drop (Loyola courses) at least one month prior
• Drop (Extramurals) according to other
  institutions policy, typically 4 6 weeks prior

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Discretionary Time Use

• Time for Additional Elective Opportunities OR
• For USMLE Step 2 study time
• For Extramural calendar adjustment
• For remediation needs
• For personal needs

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Applying for Discretionary Time Off

• May be taken in one week or longer increments
• Form must be submitted to ORR in advance
• Form currently available in ORR or on the ORR
  website
• When online elective registration goes live, you
  will submit Discretionary Time requests through
  myLUMEN

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USMLE STEP 2 CK CS

• Requirement Timing

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USMLE Step 2 planning Residency considerations

• Early test before Sept 30 (scores out before
  interviews are offered)
• Mid-yr test by end of Nov (scores out before
  residency rank season)
• Late test after mid-January (scores out after
  match ranking finished)

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USMLE Step 2 CK CS timing

• USMLE Step 2 CK CS must be PASSED to graduate
• CK Take between July February but no later
  than April 1, 2010 (National trend is to take
  Step 2 by January
• CS Take no later than end of February 2010
• Scores are reported according to a block
  schedule
• Test dates Jan 1 Feb 23 scores out Mar 26
  Apr 23 - OK
• Test dates Feb 24 Mar 22 scores out Apr 23
  May 21 May be too Late

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Residency Planning

• You may want to know now

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Residency Letters of Recommendation

• Up to four for ERAS/NRMP programs
• Up to three for early match programs
• Request letters when opportunities present
• Submit to Student Affairs with 2010 ERAS cover
  letter in June mid-Sept (cover letter available
  in June)

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CV and Personal Statement

• Feedback on CVs recently submitted
• May submit updated copy by date TBA this spring
  for Deans Letter use
• Instructions and timeline will be provided

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Online Resources

• Loyola Elective Catalog (stritch.luc.edu/depts/reg
  rec/catalog)
• AAMC Extramural Elective Compendium
  http//www.aamc.org/students/medstudents/electives
  /start.htm
• AMA-FREIDA (www.ama.org/FREIDA)
• Match info (www.AAMC.org/nrmp)
• Residency Web Application process
  (www.aamc.org/ERAS)
• Visiting Student Application Service
  (http//www.aamc.org/programs/vsas/)
• Careers in Medicine (http//www.aamc.org/cim)

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Future Workshops

• Deans Letter Process (on February PCM day? TBA)
• The Match ERAS (on April PCM day)

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Ask Questions!

• It is acceptable, expected, smart
• Where
• O.R.R. (how to sign up for electives, policies)
• Student Affairs (what to take, when)
• Faculty Advisor (what, where, when)
• Specialty faculty (where, when, how many)
• Elective dept. offices (how, which)

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Submitting your Track Preferences

• Go to myLUMENgt myInformationgt Clerkship Tracking
  Sys.gt Fourth Year Track Ranking Form

Ranking Form due January 28th

• If you encounter any problems, contact Julie
  Steinecker (jsteinecker_at_lumc.edu)

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Questions?

• Remember Track Ranking Form is due Wednesday,
  January 28th.