MD4 Independent/Non-VSLO Away/Research Electives 

Independent Research, Non-VSLO Away Elective Form

Independent and Research Electives

Independent or Research Electives are courses in which students may participate, in their area of interest, not offered through the Standard MD4 Curriculum.

The Process:  

• At least 90 days are needed for this process. 
• Register for Indep/Research Placeholder (MD4 8391) for the month you would like to take it, during open registration
• Affiliation Agreement (if applicable – usually needed for non-WSU SoM partner sties) 
• Completion of the Independent, Research, and Non-VSLO Away Form 
  • Month of your elective 
  • Title of your elective 
  • A detailed objective, outline, and plan. Resource of your work or research proposal is required 
  • Preceptor’s professional CV (if they do not have a faculty appointment with WSU SoM) 
  • Evaluation Methods 
  • Signed/dated statement of approval from student’s preceptor. 
• Approval from Dr. Steffes 
• Records and Registration Staff will register the student for the rotation if approved.  

 

Away Electives

A rotation that is not taken at the home affiliated sites. Can be VSLO or Non-VSLO Away Electives

VSLO

 Rotation opportunities in the Visiting Student Learning Opportunity site

The Process:  

• Register for an Away Placeholder (MD4 8391) for the month you would like to take the elective, during open registration 
• Affiliation Agreement (if applicable – usually needed for non-WSU SOM partner sties)  

Please note that most questions you will have can be found in the links below:

VSLO FAQs

AAMC Immunization Form

How to Use VSLO Service

Non-VSLO

Learning opportunities available at non-home-based sites that are not offered through VSLO, or is a Canadian or International or a military rotation 

The Process:  

• At least 90 days are needed for this process. 
• Register for Away Placeholder (MD4 8391) for the month you would like to take the Away elective you during open registration 
• Affiliation Agreement 
• Completion of the Independent, Research, and Non-VSLO Away Form 
  • Month of your elective 
  •  Name of the Non-VLSO Away Program  
  • Upload Acceptance Letter from program 
• Approval from Dr. Steffes 
• Records and Registration Staff will register the students for the rotation, if approved. 

 International 

The Process:  

• Contact Dr. Chuang
• Need 180 days to process.  
• Register for Indep/Research Placeholder / Away Placeholder MD4 8391 for the month you would like to take the Indep/Research/ away elective you during open registration 
• Affiliation Agreement Required for Non-VSLO Away (180 days before the start of the rotation) 
• Completion of the application in VSLO; if it is on the VLSO Site 

Or  

• Completion of the Independent, Research, and Non-VSLO Away Form 
• Month of your elective 
• Approval from Dr. Steffes and Dr. Chaung 
• Records and Registration Staff will register the students for the rotation if approved. 
• Follow up for international travel process with Dr. Chaung

Evaluation:  

At the end of your Independent, Research, or Away month, you must have your Preceptor complete the evaluation in New Innovations and submit a short report of your progress to the Associate Dean in the Academic and Student Programs office (currently Dr Steffes). 

 Important Information: 

• A maximum of five (5) Away/Independent/Research/VSLO Electives are allowed. Once registered for these electives, it is the student’s responsibility to seek approval and complete the change form to update their schedule. We require at least 90 days (about 3 months, for US sites) prior to the elective start date (the first of the intended month) for approval and to
• Only 2 electives in Independent and Research and Only 3 electives to VSLO/Non-VSLO Aways. make any necessary changes. 
• For all International Electives, we require 180 days (about 6 months) prior to the elective start date.
• It is also your responsibility to make sure all of the proper documentation is received, according to the 90-day (USA) or 180-day (International) submission deadline, so that we can process your registration in a timely manner.  
• Students must be registered in a placeholder for an Independent, Research, or Away month. If a student is registered with a home elective and not a placeholder WSUSOM EM will not process the elective change.  

Request was not approved 

If you do not receive approval, or are no longer pursuing this path, you must notify our office at least 45 days before the course was to begin and submit a schedule change request for an alternate rotation. Please follow the process below for Schedule Changes. 

Schedule Change Requests 

• All Schedule Change Requests must adhere to the 45 day add/drop policy for all locations.  
• Go to https://registration.wayne.edu/StudentRegistrationSsb/ssb/registration to browse the list of available courses for the appropriate Term and provide us with the corresponding CRN for the Course, using the Schedule Change Request 

Notes on the Schedule of Classes

• Classes that have 0 seats available are full. Please do not request to be added to them. We have used all WSUSOM allotted seats. 
• Some classes listed as available on our site might not actually have open spots. When you submit a request to be added to a class, our office will contact the site to confirm availability. Please allow 3-5 business days for a response. 

FAQS

Home Rotations:

•  For WSU faculty (those with a med.wayne.edu email) a preceptor signature and email address is all that is needed for faculty status. 
• For clinical rotations at affiliated hospitals, we need to have these approved by the hospital educational office prior to assignment (so that they can provide EMR access, etc.) 

  Away Locations: 

• We will need to confirm that the preceptor is a faculty member at the host institution.  You can provide the .edu email, provide the university faculty appointment, or submit the Preceptor's CV. Note that this is a university faculty appointment, not just a hospital appointment.  For other preceptors, a CV review by the Associate Dean is mandatory. Rationale: for university credit, faculty status is an accreditation requirement. 
•  An Affiliation Agreement must be in place for any facility in which you plan to work.  For those that are not in VSLO this requires at most 90 days (USA) 180 (International) as it needs approval by the Provost's Office, General Counsel and the Facility Administration.  Ms. Shanae Pruitt will assist with this process.  Rationale: for legal protection, a binding contract must be in place between the facility and the university. 

  If you have any other questions or concerns regarding this process, please do not hesitate to contact us or send us an email at records@med.wayne.edu