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Create an elective

IU School of Medicine offers elective courses in clinical practice, professional development, career exploration, and advanced science research, which serve to widen the student’s involvement in their medical education, gain deeper insight into their field of choice and delve deeper into areas that may enhance their overall medical experience.

Questions?

Please reach out to the electives team by email.

Elective proposal and review process

The IU School of Medicine is always interested in supporting the development of new and innovative electives. If you are interested in pursuing the development of a new elective opportunity, please complete the steps below.

The approval process typically takes approximately one month from the time of proposal submission to reach final approval before the course number assignment and course catalog listings are established.


Step 1: Proposal submission

The course director (or designee) completes and submits an Elective Proposal Form.

  • The proposal form includes the issues that you will need to think over and include in order for the elective to be approved. These include the overall design of the elective, the objectives, the working plans that should provide an idea of how the objectives will be met, who will be involved in the operations of the elective, a tentative schedule, how many students will be allowed at a time, any prerequisites that the students must have met in order to participate, and how the student will be assessed.
  • Please refer to the frequently asked questions to learn more about the electives program and electives course requirements.

Submit an Elective Proposal Form


Step 2: Initial review

The proposal is received electronically by an MSE liaison (an Elective Sub-Committee representative) via the electives team email (iusmecat@iu.edu). The faculty appointment of the course director is verified and the proposal is reviewed for areas that may cause concern throughout the committee review/approval process. The MSE liaison communicates change recommendations to the proposal submitter/course director. Once updates occur, the proposal moves to the next step.


Step 3: Departmental review/approval

The proposal is sent to the appropriate vice chair of education or their designee for review/approval. If change recommendations are provided, then the MSE liaison fosters communication between parties. If approved, the proposal moves to the next step of the process.


Step 4: Elective sub-committee review/approval

The proposal is forwarded for review to a faculty member of the Elective Sub-Committee (ESC).

  • If the elective is approved, the proposal moves to the next step of the process.
  • If there are changes needed, the assigned team will contact the course director, copying the proposal submitter (if relevant) to discuss and approve proposed changes. Once these recommendations are approved by the course director, the proposal will receive a final review by the ESC member and, if approved, move to the next step.

Step 5: Course number assignment and notification

After final ESC approval, the course is routed to the registrar’s office for course number assignment. Following the course number assignment, the course information is added to the school's Electives Catalog. The course director, department chair, center director (if relevant), and proposal submitter (if relevant) are notified via email of the approval and provided the course number. Once the course is live in the Elective Catalog, the MSE liaison or designee then notifies the students via the student newsletter of the new elective(s) available.

Submit an Elective Proposal Form

Frequently asked questions