Everything You Need To Know About Medical Student Away Rotations

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Medical students interested in exploring nonclinical career opportunities should look into applying for a nonclinical away rotation during their fourth year. A number of medical schools and hospitals have, in recent years, established medical student away rotations. These rotations cover a variety of nonclinical areas related to healthcare delivery. These include, for instance, quality improvement, clinical informatics, business, law, and several others.

• 10 medical student away rotations without clinical responsibilities
• A few notes about these nonclinical electives

10 medical student away rotations without clinical responsibilities

One of the rotations listed below – Quality Management and Patient Safety at Baystate Medical Center – I completed myself back in the day as a fourth year medical student. It was super. It was well organized and was a great learning experience. The main focus was carrying out my own quality improvement project throughout the month. However, I also had a number of other activities interspersed. A few of these were:

• Clinicians who are involved in quality management at various levels are currently meeting to discuss ongoing initiatives and, furthermore, to strategize on future improvements.
• Attending committee meetings and senior leadership meetings related to quality and safety
• Participating in various quality management initiatives that were ongoing within the organization.

The rest of the rotations that made the list are the neatest-sounding ones that I’m aware of that most closely align with the skills and responsibilities of popular nonclinical jobs.

1. Quality Management and Patient Safety

Location: Baystate Medical Center – Springfield, MA

Length:  4 weeks

This elective is specifically designed to explore the fundamental issues in defining, measuring, and improving healthcare quality and safety. Throughout the course, the student will not only gain an appreciation for how healthcare quality is defined but also develop a deeper understanding of the practical application of evidence-based medicine.

2. Medical Administration and Quality Improvement

Location: UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine – Los Angeles, CA

Length:  3 weeks

This course is an introduction to the general principles of healthcare management, specifically from the perspective of physicians involved in medical administration. Throughout the course, the student will gain first-hand exposure to the behind-the-scenes processes that keep our hospitals and clinics running smoothly. By attending committee meetings and meeting leaders from various hospital departments, students will not only observe but also actively engage with the inner workings of hospital operations.

 3. Climate Change and Medicine

Location: University of Colorado – Aurora, CO

Length:  2 weeks

Climate change has profound impacts on health, including food insecurity, degraded air quality, civil unrest, and changes in vector-borne disease. In particular, this course explores the intricate physiologic, ecologic, and social interactions that result in these impacts. Additionally, it provides a comprehensive foundation in climate medicine, along with essential skills in science communication, policy, and advocacy.

4. Expanding Wikiproject Medicine

Location: UC San Francisco – San Francisco, CA

Length:  4 weeks

Admit it – you use Wikipedia extensively. Who doesn’t? But do you use it for medical information? Your patients do! So if Wikipedia is the most widely used medical reference in the world, and the third most visited medical reference in the US, why not be a part of increasing the quality of reliable information there by becoming a WikiProject: Medicine editor? This course will teach you how.

5. Foundations in Patient Safety and Health Care Quality

Location: U of Texas Medical Branch – Galveston, TX

Length:  4 weeks

As an interprofessional course, this elective will not only allow medical students to interact, learn, and collaborate with students from other schools at UTMB, but also actively participate in an interprofessional setting. Furthermore, students will complete assigned required readings, including the Institute of Medicine Landmark report on ‘To Err is Human.’ In addition, they will engage in weekly class lectures and discussions on various patient safety and quality topics. To reinforce these concepts, students will also attend local patient safety committee and/or joint quality improvement committee meetings.

6. Medical Education Curriculum

Location: Maine Medical Center – Portland, ME

Length:  4 weeks

The purpose of this elective is to help medical students develop and practice basic principles of teaching in preparation for their lifelong role as educators. They will have the opportunity to read educational literature and will meet weekly with a different member of the Maine Track faculty to discuss the following four topics: principles of adult learning, lesson planning, addressing different learning styles, and assessment strategies.

7. Clinical Informatics and Research in Primary Care

Location: Albert Einstein College of Medicine – Bronx, NY

Length:  4 weeks

Students will actively participate in developing and implementing a web-based curriculum, with a focus on evaluating the e-Clinician Project. Funded as part of the Health Alert Network of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the project is administered by the Clinical Directors Network, a primary care practice-based research network in NYC. The e-Clinician Project is specifically designed to disseminate evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and, in turn, improve access to clinical decision-support tools on handheld personal computers for clinicians practicing in patient care.

8. Medical Informatics

Location: MetroHealth Medical Center – Cleveland, OH

Length:  4 weeks

Medical Informatics is a rapidly growing field in healthcare which involves the use of computer technology to improve healthcare. After a brief introduction to the overall field of medical informatics through a course pack, this rotation will focus primarily on clinical informatics. Clinical informatics is a sub-field of medical informatics that specifically focuses on how computer technology affects clinical care. Some key examples of clinical informatics topics include, but are not limited to, electronic medical records, clinical decision support systems, and personal health records.

9. Business in Medicine

Location: Weill Cornell Medical College – New York, NY

Length:  4-8 weeks

This 4th-year elective offers interested medical students the opportunity to learn about the business side of medicine. As part of the course, each student is required to write a proposal outlining a specific project, select a WMC faculty mentor, and, in addition, receive guidance from a Business Mentor throughout the process. Placements include pharmaceutical companies, biotech companies, managed care/insurance companies, hospitals, and financial corporations.

10. Law and Medicine

Location: Emory University School of Medicine – Atlanta, GA

Length:  4 weeks

Students will observe and actively participate in advocacy and problem-solving efforts on behalf of low-income clients served by the HeLP Legal Services Clinic at GSU College of Law, as well as at the Health Law Partnership at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Half of the time will be spent working alongside law students at the HeLP Legal Services Clinic, while the other half will be dedicated to the hospital-based office of the Health Law Partnership. During this time, students may assist in client intake, observe court appearances, attend case acceptance meetings, and participate in other functions related to serving the legal needs of low-income clients whose children are being cared for by Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

A few notes about these nonclinical electives

If any of these opportunities spark your interest, here are a few things to note:

• The AAMC Visiting Student Application Service (VSAS) site lists all of these electives.
• They list these electives as ‘Clinical’ under Elective Type, which, as a result, clearly contradicts my description of them as nonclinical. However, the AAMC defines ‘clinical’ to mean that these electives are not research-based. While I can’t make guarantees, my reading about these rotations indicates that they do not involve direct patient care.
• There are more nonclinical medical student away rotations than what I have listed here! You may be interested in an elective of this type, but are restricted geographically or to a certain block during the year. You should definitely peruse the VSAS website in order to explore additional options that may better align with your interests and needs.

Good luck in your elective search and applications!