School of Medicine Registrar's Office Clerkship FAQs

Stanford MD Program students must have successfully completed all pre-clinical requirements prior to beginning clerkships. Review the MD Program clerkship requirements detailed on the MD Program Clerkship Requirements webpage. Also refer to the MD Program Handbook.

The Draw is the lottery for rising clerkship students to schedule ten core clerkships. The Draw is run once a year. See the Clerkship Scheduling website for more information.

Medical Education Platform (MEP) Clerkships is the clerkship scheduling system for clinical MD students. Students use MEP Clerkships for the annual core clerkship Draws for rising clerkship students, as well as to schedule non-core clerkships through the weekly Shuffles.  Students may view their clerkship schedule through the ‘Your Schedule’ or ‘Shuffle’ drop down menu items.

If the period of the core clerkship you want to move to is available, complete the Core Clerkship Change Request Form to request that clerkship be moved to another available period.

If you have been promoted to clinical clerkships, all core clerkships associated with degree requirements listed in the MD Handbook are required to appear on your MEP Clerkship schedule and MEP Student Records clerkship schedule at all times.

Complete the Core Clerkship Change Request Form to request that a core clerkship be waitlisted for a specific period.  

Students must complete the Clerkship Late Drop Petition Form to request to drop any clerkship during the 4-week no-drop period.  The request will be reviewed by the Committee on Curriculum and Academic Policy (CCAP).  

For core clerkship late drop requests, students must select on the form the period they request to move the clerkship to.  

The Shuffle is the weekly lottery for non-core clerkships which runs every Monday. MD students can schedule their non-core clerkships, accept notified clerkships, drop waiting lists or non-core clerkships, and put themselves on waiting lists for non-core clerkships that are currently not available. See the Clerkship Scheduling website for more information. 

All clerkships that require prior approval from clerkship directors cannot be scheduled through the weekly shuffle.  Approval emails need to be forwarded to Caroline Cheang, Associate Director of Clerkship Administration, Registrar’s Office and medregistrar@stanford.edu.  The approved clerkship will be manually added to the students' MEP Clerkship schedules. 

The weekly shuffles can only be used to move non-core clerkships.  All core clerkship movements need to be requested via the Core Clerkship Change Request Form.  

Students must complete the Clerkship Late Drop Petition Form to request to drop any clerkship during the 4-week no-drop period.  The request will be reviewed by the Committee on Curriculum and Academic Policy (CCAP).  

Final evaluations for each clerkship scheduled on the student’s MEP Clerkships schedule will be created on One45 each period.  Credits will be given once the final evaluations are submitted.

See Continuity of Care clerkships. Students register for the Continuity of Care clerkship on Axess during the quarter the clerkship is ending, and should check with the clerkship coordinator for instructions. An evaluation will be created for the students to receive credits for the clerkship.

Core clerkships must be completed at Stanford, but students can participate in selective and elective clerkships at other institutions (away clerkships/rotations). See the Away Rotations/Clerkships webpage for details.  Use the Away Clerkship Authorization form after being accepted into an away rotation. 

The VSLO (AAMC Visiting Student Learning Opportunities) program enables MD students to pursue short-term learning opportunities (away rotations/clerkships) outside of their home institution. Review the VSLO website for more information. The VSLO application service enables students to apply for and track applications for away clerkships at participating institutions. If you need access to VLSO, please submit a request using the SoM Registrar's Office Request Form.

Students request authorization to apply for away rotations in VSLO (AAMC Visiting Student Learning Opportunities)  by first submitting a request to gain access to VSLO using the Registrar’s Office Request Form.  When applying, indicate medregistrar@stanford.edu as the contact email address. A notification email will be sent to the Registrar's Office to verify the student's uploaded information and release their applications to designated host schools.  Electronic transcripts requested by students and letters of recommendation prepared by faculty will be uploaded to VSAS.  See "Preparing for an Away Rotation/Clerkship" for more details.

Visit the away institution’s website and carefully review their instructions for applying.  If the away institution’s process includes form completion by authorized School of Medicine staff and/or a letter of good standing, use the School of Medicine Registrar’s Office Request Form to submit a request.  See "Preparing for an Away Rotation/Clerkship" for more details.

Students can access their original background check (conducted during the MD admissions process) by going to the Certiphi Consumer Care website at https://consumercare.certiphi.com/.   Some institutions simply want verification that a background check was conducted.   See "Preparing for an Away Rotation/Clerkship" for more details.

After being accepted to participate in an away rotation, submit the Away Clerkship Authorization Form.  Include copies of the clerkship description and the acceptance notification from the away institution.  If your away clerkship is approved, it will be added to your clerkship schedule in MEP Clerkships and MEP Student Records.

When enrollment in Axess is open for the quarter in which you're taking the away rotation, enroll yourself in the corresponding clerkship. Away rotations end with “W”, e.g. ORTHO 306W. You should enroll in the section number that corresponds with the period you are taking the clerkship, e.g., for Period 4, select section 04.

See the Preparing for an Away Rotation/Clerkship webpage for more details.

For each upcoming quarter, visiting student applications are accepted during a one-month period:  Summer (P1, P2 and P3) on April 24,  Autumn (P4, P5, and P6) on July 24, Winter (P7, P8, and P9) on October 23, and Spring (P10, P11, and P12) on January 22.  Students need to submit their application, non-refundable application fee of $200, and all supporting documents listed on our Visiting Clerkships website before the deadline.  Students interested in clerkships that require pre-approval must obtain their pre-approval before applying.

Visiting students are scheduled in clerkships quarterly: Summer 2024-25 (P1, P2 and P3) on April 22, Autumn 2024-25 (P4, P5, P6) on July 22,  Winter 2024-25 (P7, P8 and P9) on October 21, and Spring 2024-25 (P10, P11 and P12) on January 27.

Stanford students only have priority over visiting students to take clerkships up until the time when visiting students are scheduled.  Once a visiting student is scheduled, they are officially enrolled in the clerkships and they make their arrangements to travel and participate in the scheduled clerkship for credit at their home institution.