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. VIMS may not apply for core clerkships at Brown Medical School.

Students remain registered at their own schools while participating in clinical electives at Brown 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 Brown Medical School for a maximum of six (6) months.

PROCESSING FEE

The student will submit an application processing fee in the form of a bank check in the amount of $50.00 US payable to Brown University for each 4-week rotation for which they are applying as well as the tuition fee [see item (g) 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 $50.00 and ask us to consider your application for the SAME elective for three different months. If you do, we will choose the earliest month.

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.

Incomplete applications will be returned to the applicant. The application must be received at least 4 months in advance of the clinical elective.

The application packet should also include the following:

  1. 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.
  2. A current transcript
  3. 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).
  4. 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.
  5. 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.) Brown 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 1-800-822-6658 or at 401-752-8675.
  6. Proof that the student has attended an educational session on the prevention of bloodborne and airborne pathogen infection in compliance with OSHA regulations.
  7. Tuition fee. 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 [$3,020 US July 1, 2007-Jun 30, 2008] or [$3,100 US July 1, 2008-June 30, 2009], payable to Brown University in the form of a bank check. 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, I suggest that you request alternative electives and/or dates.
  8. 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 have your school send these 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 for Brown Medical School online catalogue with the exception that VIMS may NOT apply for the Sub-Internship or Advanced Clinical Clerkships.

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 Brown 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 Brown Medical School. Services for disabled students are available. Please contact us immediately if you require any assistance.