IU School of Medicine offers an extensive list of elective courses in the course catalog. However, students can identify and create rotation opportunities called Special Electives, which are rotations outside of the regular catalog offerings in a student’s area of interest. Special electives may be rotations offered in the state of Indiana or out of state. A special elective request requires review by faculty and staff to ensure academic integrity, compliance with the school's standards and appropriateness for the student’s academic program.
Submission of a proposal does not guarantee approval. A special elective request form must be submitted a minimum of 30 days in advance for all special elective rotations including rotations at IU School of Medicine, VSLO/VSAS, military, and international rotations.
Types of Special Electives
Military Special Electives (“Military” on request form)
Students completing required military rotations must submit a special elective request form with supporting documentation a minimum of 30 days before the start of the rotation.
AAMC Visiting Student Learning Opportunities (VSLO) Special Electives (“VSLO” on request form)
Students interested in rotations at other institutions participating in the AAMC VSLO Program should use the AAMC VSLO system to find and apply for opportunities away from IU School of Medicine. A special elective request form must be submitted with supporting documentation from the host institution as soon as approval has been received for the rotation from the host institution. A special elective request form must be submitted a minimum of 30 days before the start of the rotation. Approval through VSLO for away rotations does not guarantee approval for credit by IU School of Medicine.
International Special Electives (“International Special Elective” on request form)
International Electives: Academic credit will not be given for international electives unless proper procedures are followed. The only electives approved to be done internationally are currently the ones listed below from the IU School of Medicine electives catalog:
- Medicine in Kenya (93ZH820)
- Healthcare in Developing Countries (93ZH790)
- International Research (93ZH830)
- Global Health Elective: Latin America (ENLACE) (93ZH900)
- Global Health Elective in Ghana (71ZH900)
If a student is interested in an international elective but is unsure if it fits within the approved electives above, please email the Associate Director of Education at the IU Center for Global Health (Jenny Baenziger, MD, jbaenz@iu.edu) to discuss options and next steps. Only 4th years are eligible for international rotations.
IU Special Electives and away rotations that are not through AAMC VSLO (“Special Elective (All Other Request Types)” on request form)
Students may propose special electives at IU School of Medicine and IU-affiliated sites that are outside of the regular electives catalog offerings. Students may also propose special elective rotations outside of the school at LCME-accredited institutions, non-LCME accredited institutions and private practice sites that are not affiliated with IU School of Medicine and are not part of the AAMC VSLO Program.
A special elective request form must be submitted a minimum of 30 days before the start of the rotation. Rotations at LCME-accredited, non-LCME accredited, and private practice sites that are not affiliated with IU and that are not part of the AAMC VSLO program may require additional information following submission of the proposal form about the site/institution and/or the course director’s credentials. A faculty and/or staff member may contact you during the proposal review process if additional information is required regarding the site/institution and/or the course director’s credentials.
Special Elective Contacts
For special electives at IU School of Medicine and IU-affiliated sites, please contact the people listed below to identify special elective opportunities. These campus and department contacts will help connect you with available faculty members and play a critical role in ensuring the availability of faculty time, space and resources across all our clinical rotations.
The campus and departmental contacts specified below should be contacted before submitting a special elective proposal form.
Regional Campus Contacts
- Bloomington – Kathy Hiller, MPH, MD (kmhiller@iu.edu).
- Evansville – Caren Whitehouse (whitca@iu.edu)
- Fort Wayne – Sharon Roberts (robeshar@iu.edu)
- Muncie – Reach out to your lead advisor and/or the preceptor you are interested in working with.
- Northwest-Gary – Amy Han, PhD (amyhan@iu.edu)
- South Bend – Stacey Patrick (sapats@iu.edu)
- Terre Haute – Heather LeBrun (heather.lebrun@indstate.edu)
- West Lafayette – Natalie O’Neal (oneal17@purdue.edu)
Indianapolis Departmental Contacts
- Anesthesia – Anesthesia Education Team (anesume@iu.edu).
- Emergency Medicine – Jim Graber (jamgrabe@iu.edu)
- Family Medicine – Natalie Rollman (nrollman@iu.edu)
- Neurology – Reach out to the preceptor that you will work with.
- Obstetrics & Gynecology – Andrea Hill (hilland@iu.edu). Students should have an idea of what their special elective would entail and where/with whom they would complete the rotation, if approved.
- Psychiatry – Rachel Fitschen (rsfitsch@iu.edu)
- Radiology – Carlene Webb-Burton (cwebbbur@iu.edu) or Richard Gunderman, MD, PhD (rbgunder@iu.edu)
- Surgery – Megan Rendina (mrendina@iu.edu)
Students interested in Indianapolis departments not listed above should work with their career mentors, lead advisors and/or relevant faculty to identify opportunities for special elective rotations.
Special Electives Form and Submission Information
Once you have discussed the rotation with the contacts above and have obtained email approval from a course director/host institution, you must submit a special elective request form.
The completed form and supporting documentation must be submitted a minimum of 30 days prior to the start of the rotation (and no later than four months prior to International rotations).
Please note:
- A rotation is not officially approved until all the appropriate faculty and staff have reviewed and approved the proposal. Students will receive a notification once their proposal has been approved.
- For information about the required duration of special electives to earn academic credit, please see the Electives FAQs.
- If you plan on taking an elective that is not in the IU School of Medicine catalog (special elective) there is a possibility the host school or facility will require an educational affiliation agreement. Please be aware these agreements can take some time to complete, especially if the site does not use the nationally recognized AAMC Uniform Clinical Training Affiliation Agreement. There is also the possibility, although rare, that IU School of Medicine and the host will not be able to come to terms.
- IU School of Medicine cannot sign any document received directly from the host site. All agreements must be routed through the Buy.IU contract management system and approved/signed by the IU General Counsel Office and the IU School of Medicine Dean of Medical Student Education. IU School of Medicine will not begin the agreement process prior to your accepting an offer from the site. So it will be beneficial to get started on the agreement as soon as possible.
- Please send all questions regarding the affiliation agreement process to msaffil@iu.edu.
For these reasons, we strongly recommend planning ahead — do not wait until the last minute.