University of Ottawa Students Pre-clerkship
Guidelines for 2nd Year Non-Mandatory Electives
You are strongly encouraged to do electives during your 2nd year. It is expected that an elective done during pre-clerkship will be observational. However, hands-on experiences are permitted under supervision and approval of your preceptor.
Use your imagination when setting up electives: medical education, naturopathic medicine, history of medicine, community work, basic science, international health and occupational health are all examples of legitimate ideas.
Procedures for planning your Electives
- To inquire about different possibilities for electives, consult the Electives Catalogue (see Table of Content on left margin), Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada ( http://www.afmc.ca) or Rural Canadian Electives .
- You must then contact the supervisor or appropriate department coordinator (see link below for list) to ensure availability and feasibility of elective for requested dates and duration.
- It is expected that your electives will NOT be organized during curriculum activities, whether mandatory or not. All small group activities are mandatory (CBL, PSD and some SIM sessions). If a student attends an elective during scheduled curricular activities, it may be considered a professionalism issue by some departments, as lecturers and preceptors put much effort into the preparation of their sessions. Electives should be organized during the «Self study/Elective time» included in your schedule. Note that some departments may choose to not accommodate you for morning electives during the week as they know that this is curricular time.
- Please note that your supervisor must be a practicing physician, not a resident.
- It is anticipated that your elective will be done in a Canadian Medical School.
- Also please note that you cannot do your electives with a member of your immediate family, extended family or your in-laws, by anyone with whom you are involved in a close personal relationship and your personal physician or clinic. This would be considered to be a conflict of interest. We trust that this policy will be respected.
Please select your elective carefully as switching or canceling electives once they are booked is discouraged. If it is absolutely necessary to cancel an elective, you must notify the department coordinator and/or the preceptor in writing at least 6 weeks before the start of the elective. Failure to adhere to the above policies will be considered a breach of professionalism and may be reported to the Director of Electives and the Associate Dean Undergraduate Medical Education for follow up.
Important links:
- Electives Contact List for Different Divisions in Ottawa Please note that this link is intended for U of Ottawa students only. Username and password are same as the one you use to access your ONE45 account. Please contact Julie Clavelle at elective@uottawa.ca if you need assistance.
- Other Canadian Universities Elective Contacts
- If you are planning to do an International Elective follow this link
Clinical Placement site You are required to register the electives you wish to do in order to get them approved. Please follow these steps:
IMPORTANT: You MUST register your electives PRIOR to the start of the elective. Electives that are registered after the beginning of the elective will be denied. Without this approval, your electives will not be added to your MSPR (Medical Student Performance Record) and we will be unable to protect you with malpractice and liability insurance. |
The 3-page Pre-Clerkship Elective Evaluation Form can be printed from the Electives website (see links at top of page).
Ensure that your supervisor understands your objectives clearly, and discuss ways in which the objectives can be met, including having the opportunity to be exposed to as many specialties possible before choosing a residency program.
After completion of the elective, ensure that both you and your supervisor complete the Evaluation Form. Please return all 3 pages to the Electives Coordinator (Room 2046). Keep a copy of the Elective Evaluation Form for your records.
If you experience difficulties such as personal well being or stress related issues during an elective, please do not hesitate to contact the Electives Coordinator at elective@uottawa.ca or by phone at 613-562-5800 x8552 or toll free at 1-877-868-8292 x8552.
The Office of Student Affairs also offers a confidential counseling and referral service to undergraduate medical students. Students who are experiencing difficulty with stress related to personal and academic demands are encouraged to consult with a professional counselor in Student Affairs. You may find their contact information following this link: http://www.med.uottawa.ca/Students/StudentAffairs/eng/counseling.html
Insurance
Registered students at the University of Ottawa are covered for liability and malpractice insurance while on electives during the academic year, whether in Canada or abroad.
Appropriate Appearance at Clinical Encounters:
We strongly encourage you to familiarize yourself with the guidelines regarding appearance while encountering patients. You may do so by consulting the Student Guide under paragraph 8.7.
Professionalism:
We also strongly encourage you to familiarize yourself with the professional standards within the Faculty of Medicine. http://www.med.uottawa.ca/students/md/professionalism/eng/
In order to be listed in the Medical Student Performance Record (MSPR), the non-mandatory electives must be :
• Recorded on the 3-page Pre-Clerkship Elective Evaluation Form (see link at top of this page)
• Signed by the student and the supervisor
• At least 10 hours duration
• Entered on the Clinical Placement website before submitting the Elective Evaluation Form to the Medical Education Office.
Objectives of the 2nd Year Student’s Mandatory Clinical Elective Week (at least 20 hours)
The purpose of this elective is to provide students with an opportunity to enhance clinical skills or to explore clinical areas to facilitate decision making regarding future postgraduate training. The objectives for this elective will vary depending on the main goal to be achieved by the student.
Your mandatory pre-clerkship clinical elective week must be done from March 19-23, 2012. Please note that it can also be done during your March Break (March 12-16, 2012). You are NOT permitted to do this mandatory elective at other times in the year.
Whether the student does a type I or type II elective (see descriptions below), the faculty expects that they will spend a week focusing on that elective. It is up to the student not to waste this opportunity. Duration must be of at least 20 hours.
It is mandatory that your placement be affiliated with an LCME accredited Medical School (The supervisor must be a practicing physician, not a resident). Students cannot be supervised by a member of their immediate family, extended family, in-laws or anyone with whom you are involved in a close personal relationship.
NO INTERNATIONAL ELECTIVE OTHER THAN THE USA WILL BE APPROVED FOR THE MANDATORY PRE-CLERKSHIP CLINICAL ELECTIVE WEEK . If you choose to do an international elective, remember that it must be pre-approved. Instructions can be found on the Electives website under International Electives.
I- Clinical Skills Enhancement Elective:
If the Elective is for the purpose of Clinical Skills Enhancement, the following recommendations apply:
The student should seek a placement where there will be an opportunity to practice the basic clinical skills they have learned and to be observed performing these skills. Supervisor feedback will aid in perfecting these skills. The student needs to set specific objectives to be achieved during this elective by critically appraising their strengths and weaknesses. These objectives can be discussed with the supervisor at the beginning of the elective and evaluated at the end. The objectives should be noted on the Pre-Clerkship Elective Evaluation Form. The faculty realizes that the duration of the elective is short and that a limited amount will be achieved during this placement.
The faculty also recognizes that it may be difficult to obtain 5 full days of clinical time. It has been recommended that, in many Family Medicine practices, the student should request 5 half-days. Some supervisors may be willing only to commit 3 half-days. (A minimum of 20 hours is mandatory). The afternoons can be spent reading about the specific exam skills that are being practiced and new issues that arise with each patient. If you are requesting a placement on a medicine CTU, then one could request 3 half-days of direct contact with the supervisor and/or the clinical team. Variations around this theme can be developed for other clinical settings. It is expected that students will make full use of the week and all the opportunities to learn both while in the clinical placement and then during unscheduled times. The Bates Tapes (videos) are on reserve in the library and are still recognized as a very good reference for learning about clinical skills.
II- Exploring Clinical Areas of Interest:
If the elective is for the purpose of exploring clinical areas of interest to facilitate decision making for postgraduate training, the following recommendations apply:
Students should request a 1 week placement. The student should write the objectives for the elective and share these with the supervisor when making arrangements for the elective. It is anticipated that some of the time will be scheduled with the supervisor. There may be half-days when no operations or clinics are scheduled. It is wise for the student to read around the cases they have observed and be prepared to discuss them with the supervisor should the opportunity arise. The greater interest the student demonstrates, the more time the supervisor will devote to the student. Generally, the supervisors will expect the student to be interested in participating in whatever is going on within the chosen department and may suggest various activities that could be attended. Again, the student should take full advantage of the time afforded during the elective to learn as much about the area of medicine as possible. There is no doubt that Stage I electives have helped a number of our students in ruling in or ruling out areas of medicine to consider for postgraduate training. Placements in laboratory medical specialties are included in these electives.
In order for the mandatory elective to be listed in the Medical Student Performance Record (MSPR), the electives must be :
• Recorded on the 3 page Pre-Clerkship Elective Evaluation Form (see link at top of this page)
• Signed by the student and the supervisor
• Attend a minimum of 20 hours non-mandatory elective
• Entered on the Clinical Placement website before submitting the Elective Evaluation Form to the Medical Education Office