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Questions regarding application process for medical electives.

1K views 4 replies 2 participants last post by  redskybluerose 
#1 ·
Hi,
I am currently in final year (internship) in India. I was trying to collect all the documents I need to apply for medical electives. It's almost impossible to find electives that don't require Step 1 scores these days as a part of application process. So my question is:

1. Can I apply for the electives widely to universities now and send them my step scores later? I need a lot of time to prepare for Step 1 (10-11 months) and at the same time I need to do my internship and also get electives done before internship ends.
Another thing, if I apply widely for electives, I would be giving away thousands of non- refundable fees to the universities with no gurantee of getting an elective :notsure::notsure::notsure::eek::eek:

2. Is there any rule that MCI strictly follows like do I have to finish my internship within 2 years? I won't be able to electives, step 1 or finish my internship if there is any such rule :plz::plz::plz:

3. How credible are agencies like medclerkship? But I would still like to go through universities and not through agencies.:confused::confused::confused:

4. Please help me plan this stuff out or share the plans some of your seniors or friends are following. I have no one from my college who drove through the USMLE road. So, I would really appreciate it if someone on this forum could throw in some of their insight into this matter, which is currently giving me a massive migraine. There's only so much you need to take care of uggghhhh :scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared:
 
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#2 ·
1. Yes, electives especially without step 1 are challenging to find but not impossible. Most universities that require step 1 will not consider your application without the score report, so there is definitely no point in applying now and sending the score later ( UNC chapel hill is the only place I can think of which waives its step 1 requirement if you could provide a letter from a previous elective!). You can extend your internship if you want to apply with step 1 (almost everyone I know did it) or you can try your luck with places that do not need step 1. The process is not cheap but good letters from an elective are extremely important for residency. I applied for 9 or 10 universities and got accepted into one!

2. Nope. At least in Telangana, there is not. People from my college went for electives and cs, came back two year after and then finished the internship. So nobody cares as long you finish it. Speak with your dean or superintendent or university if you are from a different state.

3. Definitely better to go through universities by applying directly. The agenices are OK if you fail to get via universities. When you apply directly, most of the times you will have access to electronic medical records (not the case via agenices where you would be shadowing a physician). Also some program directors do not like the idea of getting a letter from a rotation sponsored by these agencies cause they have a tie up with the physician you will be rotating with.

4. I started my internship in March 2014, when I started applying for electives. Did 3 months of electives, came back and finished the internship by December 2015. Consider first which match do you want to apply (as you have just started the process I am guessing 2018 or probably 2019 match?) and make a timeline according to that. Google ecfmg timeline to have an idea of when to do what. You need to pass step1, 2ck and 2cs, be ecmfg certified (graduate and get your degree verified by ecfmg) by September of the year before you are interested to apply to match to!

Good luck! :)
 
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