Helpful Hints and Suggestions

Class of 2010

  1. Determine how you would like to schedule your Option Periods based on your individual situation. 

  2. Students interested in Neurology as a career will be given preference when requesting the Neurology Clerkship during the Year Three Option Periods.  Interested students must contact the Neurology Clerkship office (Melissa Smock, 217-545-6957) to schedule an appointment with Dr. Elble and/or Dr. AbdelSalam to discuss their career plans.  Appointments must be scheduled between March 19 and April 11, 2008.

  3. If you are considering taking an elective, it will be much easier for you to complete your Scheduling Form if you familiarize yourself with the requirements/procedures BEFORE attempting to fill out your registration form.  PLEASE take the time to read the material contained in the Year Three Option Periods Policies and Procedures.

  4. Make copies of the registration form to use as worksheets.

  5. Browse through the Year Three Elective Catalog a few times and make a list of the courses that interest you.

  6. List your top four choices for courses in order of priority for each option week.  This is especially important for courses which allow only a small number of students per rotation.  Deadline for submission of Schedule Requests is May 27, 2008.    

  7. All requests are entered into the system by priority number.  Once the system prints the preliminary schedules, students may contact the Y3/4 Registrar to make changes without requiring Add/Drop slips.  This open enrollment period will end on June 16, 2008; after that date, you will need to make any changes to your schedule using the Add/Drop form.  The deadline for Add/Drop form submission is FOUR (4) weeks prior to the elective start date.       

  8. You MUST have approval before beginning an Individually-Designed Elective (IDE) or you will not receive credit.  The deadline for IDE form submission is FOUR (4) weeks prior to the elective start date.

  9. There may be changes to the Year Three Elective Catalog.  We will send notifications to you via email to alert you to changes as they occur.

  10. If you are ill or have an emergency and will be absent, call your elective faculty and the Years 3 & 4 Registrar to let us know. 

  11. Student feedback from electives in past years is in the library and posted on the Year Three website (use your email username and password to access). 

  12. We rely on e-mail and your student mailbox to communicate information to you.  If you are in town, check both daily; if out of town, check your e-mail every day.  You are responsible for any information sent to you either way. 

  13. Some courses do not have dates available yet (e.g., ACLS, etc.) and some courses may include additional dates later in the year.  These will be posted as they become available, and you will have to fill out Add/Drop forms for them at that time. 

    • ACLS - You are responsible for the enrollment fee for this course.  For more information about the ACLS course, please contact Chris Reavis (757-4225) or Kari Thevenot (788‑4443) in the Education Department at MMC.  ACLS courses are also offered at St. John's Hospital; you may contact Janet Manfholt at 544-6464 (ext. 44607) for further information.

  14. Some courses are listed in both the Year Three and Year Four Elective Catalogs, and the length of time offered may be greater than 2 weeks; however, the maximum length of time a Year Three student may take an elective is two weeks.

  15. Also, some courses are offered as full-time or half-time (mornings or afternoons).  Make sure to select the right one on your form and indicate the number of weeks you want to be enrolled. 

    • NOTE:  Full-time courses end in a 3, and half-time courses end in 1 (AM) or 2 (PM).

  16. Some electives require permission from the faculty before you can register.  This requirement is noted in the course description as "WPI" (With Permission of Instructor).  If you want to take one of those courses, you must have written permission (use WPI form) before you can register for that elective.

  17. Many of the electives require that you contact the faculty prior to the beginning of the course.  You will need to check the description to find out exactly how far in advance you must make contact, as this varies from course to course.  This is YOUR responsibility.

  18. Also, many electives will require the completion of specific clerkship(s) prior to taking that course.  Unless you have successfully completed the prerequisites, you will not be able to enroll in and receive credit for that elective.     

  19. Elective Feedback forms must be submitted at the end of each elective.  A link will be provided on the Year Three Website, Student Evaluation of Electives.  You will not receive credit for any elective experience until you have filled out and submitted your feedback form AND the faculty member has returned your evaluation form indicating that you have satisfactorily completed all of the elective requirements.

 

 

 

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