Clinical Electives:
- At least 28 of the 42 credit hours must consist of clinical elective clerkships involving direct and active real-time patient care experiences. Additional clinical elective credit is strongly encouraged.
- A minimum of 8 credit hours must be completed as in-person Audition Clerkships at ACGME-accredited residency training programs.
- Completion of 12-16 credit hours of audition clerkships is strongly encouraged to enhance residency preparedness and competitiveness.
- With prior approval from the Department of Clinical Education, up to 4 credit hours of equivalent clinical elective experiences may be substituted for audition clerkships
- *Virtual care clinical electives*: may be eligible for credit if rotation involves real-time direct patient care. Prior approval from Clinical Education is required before applying, registering, or enrolling.
- See section below for eligibility criteria and additional requirements
Clinical Research credits: RVU's RSH 4101: Eligible for 0–8 credit hours of pre-approved clinical research. Research experiences must include adequate patient care volumes and meet the educational objectives and clinical requirements established by the Department of Clinical Education. Prior approval is required.
Additional Eligible Coursework, upon approval:
Students may apply a max of 14 total credit hours to count towards graduation. Credit hour limits below are the maximum permitted within each category and remain subject to the overall 14-credit maximum.
- Research Coursework (Non-Clinical): Up to 8 credit hours
- RVU's RSH 4100, 4001
- Independent/Guided Study (Non-Clinical): Up to 8 credit hours
- RVU's MKA, Focused Topics, Overview of Medicine
- Clinical Knowledge Didactics (Non-Clinical): Up to 2 credit hours
- Limited to RVU-Developed Gap Week Offerings only
- External virtual non-clinical courses are not eligible (see more below)
*Guidelines (clinical, nonclinical, virtual, concurrent)
Clinical elective credit requires direct and active participation in patient care. Remote or virtual experiences available through platforms like VSLO may be eligible for clinical elective credit only if they include a direct patient care component, such as telehealth encounters or real-time review and management of active patient cases under direct preceptor supervision (e.g., radiology or pathology case review).
Courses that are primarily lecture-based, discussion-based, simulated patients, observational, independent study, or otherwise didactic in nature do not meet RVU requirements for clinical elective credit, even if they are listed as "clinical" electives by the sponsoring institution.
Because course titles and VSLO descriptions do not always accurately distinguish between clinical and didactic experiences, students must submit the course syllabus to Clinical Education before registering for any virtual care clinical elective. Eligibility will be determined based on the course objectives, learning activities, supervision, assessment methods, and the presence of direct patient care experiences.
Virtual Non-Clinical Electives: Due to accreditation and distance education requirements, the only virtual non-clinical courses eligible for RVU credit are online RVU-developed Gap Week courses and RVU-developed research courses. External virtual non-clinical courses, including those offered through VSLO or other institutions, are not eligible for RVU credit. RVU may only award non-clinical elective credit for courses that are developed, delivered, and assessed by RVU faculty.
A list of available Gap Week courses is in MyUniversity on the Clinical Education RVUCOM page, electives section.
See the Non-Clinical Rotation Policy for additional information.
Online Course Requirements (Distance Education) for RVU Gap Weeks:
OMS III students participating in clinical rotations who wish to enroll in an online RVU-offered course must contact Clinical Education before registration to ensure the state in which they are completing rotations has approved RVU to deliver online instruction in that state. OMS IV students may only complete online elective courses during approved Gap Weeks. During Gap Weeks, students are considered to be in residence in their primary RVU state of enrollment.
Concurrent Enrollment and Overlapping Courses:
Students are expected to devote the time and effort necessary to successfully achieve the learning objectives and course requirements of each enrolled course. Concurrent enrollment is discouraged and is permitted only under limited circumstances with prior approval from the Department of Clinical Education.
The following applies:
- Students may not be enrolled in more than one clinical clerkship or clinical elective at the same time.
- Approved non-clinical coursework (e.g., research, scholarly activity, or Gap Week courses) may be completed concurrently with a clinical clerkship or clinical elective only when the additional coursework has received prior approval from both Clinical Education and the applicable Clerkship Director(s) and does not interfere with required clinical responsibilities. Students remain responsible for fulfilling all clinical and academic obligations and for submitting all required assignments for each enrolled course by the established deadlines.
- Students enrolled in Overview of Medicine may not concurrently participate in any other course, clerkship, elective, or scheduled academic activity. Overview of Medicine is designated as protected full-time study and exam preparation, and students are expected to devote their full academic effort to successful completion of the course.
- No Duplicate Academic Credit: A single clinical experience or rotation may not be used to satisfy the requirements of more than one course. Credit is awarded separately for each approved course based on completion of that course's individual learning objectives and assessment requirements. Educational experiences used to fulfill one course may not be counted toward another course. Students may not receive duplicate academic credit for the same educational activity. For example, patient care activities completed during a clinical rotation may not also be used to satisfy the requirements of a clinical research course.