SUNY Downstate Electives for Non-U.S. Med. Students

The fresher a applicant from medical school while applying for residency, the better - add in a hands-on US Clinical Experience to that freshness - that's like an icing on top ;-) That's why clerkships / electives are cool to do.

Here are the Details of the SUNY Downstate Electives Program - which is of course, now neatly indexed on our New York Listing for USCEs on this blog.

SUNY Downstate for International Medical students
Duration: 12 weeks Maximum - Remember the 12-week Clerkship rule of NY State
Fees: $175 for first elective application - $100 for additional electives
Visa: International Students need to get their own visitors visa (Remember to carry their acceptance letter to the visa officer while getting the visa)
HIPAA: Once accepted, the program itself will send you a website link to a tutorial and take an easy HIPAA test online. (Shall write a post about HIPAA tests later)
Application Eligibility and Application Form


Notes:

1. The SUNY Downstate Medical center visiting international student program page begins with prohibiting outside students from enrolling in their clerkships - which potentially might have some of you confused. In the US medical school system, all clinical rotations are called 'clerkships'. Clerkships done before the final 4th year are the same for all without a choice and are called core clerkships' - while the clerkships during the fourth year (also called senior year) are called 'Electives' since they students get to choose.

Since I already made a reference, here are the how the years of any post-high school undergraduate degree in the US are labeled:

1st Year = Freshman Year
2nd Year = Sophomore Year
3rd Year = Junior Year
4th Year = Senior Year


2. As I have already covered, clerkships or electives in American medical schools / Universities are only an option to internationals who are still in medical school - Notice that I did not use the term "IMG" in the title, who have already graduated from their medical schools. For IMGs - observerships / externships / mini-residencies are usually are the the only options for rotating through Hospitals or Universities.