How To Apply

Application Form
> Application Form is available online
> Dean's Statement Form (from your Clinical Dean)

Eligibility Requirements
Stanford students always have priority on available clerkships. Visiting Students are eligible to apply for a maximum of three months of elective clerkships. Applicants must present a letter from the Associate Dean or designate verifying the following:

  1. The student must be in good academic standing and currently enrolled in the M.D. or D.O. degree program at a school accredited by the  Liaison Committee on Medical Education or Education Department of the American Osteopathic Association. For all other students, please see “International Medical Students” below.
  2. The student is covered by malpractice/liability insurance at a level of at least $1,000,000 primary/$3,000,000 aggregate by his/her home school.
  3. The student has completed the core clinical clerkships in Medicine, Pediatrics, and Surgery.

The student must also provide:

  1. Proof of passing Step 1 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination or the National Board Osteopathic Medical Examiners certifying exam.
  2. Proof of passing the Respiratory Mask FIT Test. It is a measurement for mask size when one needs to wear it, ask your Office of Student Affairs about this. (Stanford University Hospital and Clinics stock 3M 1860 or 1860S type N95 disposable respirators for TB control.)
  3. Proof of HIPAA Training.
  4. Proof of required immunizations:
    1. Positive rubella and mumps titers or immunizations.
    2. Positive measles titer or immunization with two doses of measles vaccination with live vaccine since 1967. Person with documentation of a negative measles antibody titer must be vaccinated:
      1. With two doses of live vaccine if born after 1957.
      2. With one dose of live vaccine if born before 1957, and have written documentation of one dose of measles vaccine given before 1963 or after 1967.
      3. With two doses of vaccine if born before 1957 and have no documentation of measles vaccination.
    3. Positive Varicella (Chicken pox) titer or Varicella vaccine given 4 to 8 weeks apart.
    4. Hepatitis B vaccination or documentation of declination or waiver.
    5. Tuberculin status:
      1. Persons with a history of a negative PPD must provide documentation of a PPD test within the past 6 months.
      2. Persons with a history of a positive PPD must provide documentation of a recent chest x-ray and a review of symptoms within the past 6 months. If chest x-ray is abnormal, clinician clearance must be provided.
  5. Non-refundable application fee of $100 (or portion thereof) will be charged once your application form is received by our office. Once your data is entered into the University system by our office, you will receive an email from the University Cashier's office with instructions on how to pay your $100 bill. Please do not send any checks to our office.

International Medical Students
If you are attending a Foreign Medical School, unfortunately we are unable to accommodate your request for a clinical rotation here at Stanford. We regret that the demands on our resources allow us only to consider students who are currently enrolled in their fourth or final year M.D. or D.O. program at a school accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education or Education Department of the American Osteopathic Association. We wish you well in obtaining a suitable clinical experience.

Application Checklist
All students applying for clerkships at Stanford University must use the Visiting Clerkship Application. You will also need to send certain supporting documents to Stanford. We will not process your application until all of the required documents are received. The following checklist will help ensure that you do not forget anything during the application process. You may want to print out this page as a reminder.

  1. Review the online electives catalog
    Find the clerkships you are interested in. Write down their course ID numbers. A course ID number looks like this: "ANES 300C" or "MED 306A". The letter suffix following each clerkship number is used to denote the hospital designation as follows:

    A = Stanford University Medical Center
    B = Palo Alto Veterans Administration Medical Center
    C = Santa Clara Valley Medical Center
    D = Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Santa Clara

    A call code is listed for each clerkship to indicate how often call and weekend work is required. Call codes are listed in the clerkship descriptions, and translate as follows:

    0 = No call, no weekends
    1 = No call, but rounds on weekends
    2 = Other, see comment for explanation
    3 = Call every third night
    4 = Call every fourth night
    5 = Call every fifth night

  2. Check application deadlines
    Check the application acceptance periods and deadlines below to see when you may apply and by what date your application needs to be received.

  3. Fill out the application form
    This form must be received by the application deadline.
    It requests biographic information and your clerkship selections.You will need to list your clerkship choices in order of preference, including which period you want for each elective. Please note that we are unable to receive your data electronically. After filling out the application form, please print it out before submiting it to us. Do not send in more than one copy of your visiting application for each quarter. Any clerkship changes should be made by sending us an e-mail instead. In order to meet the application deadline, the application can be faxed to Caroline Cheang at 650-725-7855.

  4. Gather the following supporting documents to send to Stanford
    These documents may be sent after the application deadline, provided that your application is received by the deadline:

    • A Dean's Statement from your Clinical Dean. You may print out the Dean's Statement and have it filled out and signed by your Dean.
    • Proof that you have successfully passed Step 1 of USMLE or the National Board Osteopathic Medical Examiners certifying exam. A letter from the Registrar's Office will suffice.
    • Proof that you have successfully passed the Respiratory Mask FIT Test.
    • Proof of your HIPAA training.
    • Proof of dates of required immunizations: Rubella and mumps, Measles, Varicella, Hepatitis B, and Tuberculosis.

  5. Done!
    Send items listed in numbers 3 and 4 above to the following address:

    Caroline Cheang, MBA
    Assistant Director of Clerkship Administration
    Stanford University School of Medicine
    Educational Programs and Services
    251 Campus Drive, MSOB Room 373
    Stanford, CA 94305-5404

Scheduling Dates
Visiting applications for each quarter are accepted ONLY during the one month window listed below. Please refer to the dates indicated and apply at that time. If you have scheduling questions, please contact the clerkship coordinators directly.

Quarter

Application Acceptance Period & Deadline

 Notified by Mail
Summer (Periods 1, 2, 3) April 1 - April 30 May 15
Autumn (Periods 4, 5, 6) July 1 - July 31 August 20
Winter (Periods 7, 8, 9) October 1 - October 31 November 15
Spring (Periods 10, 11, 12) January 1 - January 31 February 15

Students with their files complete are scheduled at the same time on a quarterly basis only. No scheduling for visiting students is done before the quarterly processing dates given above. Students are scheduled on a first come first served basis, based on their file completion date. Once we have processed your application, you will be notified by regular mail as to which clerkships we were able to schedule you for.

Although housing is the responsibility of the student, some information on Housing & Transportation is included here. If you have concerns which have not been clarified, you may call (650) 724-6837 or send an e-mail to Jared Shields at

Application

There is an application available online.