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 scheduling system that the School of Medicine Registrar’s Office uses to schedule each MD program student’s nine core clerkships. The Draw is run once a year. See the Clerkship Scheduling website for more information.
The Clerkship Fishbowl System (CFS) is the system used to administer clerkship schedules. MD program students can log on to the Fishbowl to view their clerkship schedule.
If the period of the core clerkship you want to move to is available, an email may be sent to Caroline Cheang, Associate Director of Clerkship Administration, Registrar’s Office, requesting the existing core 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 Fishbowl schedule and MEP Student Records clerkship schedule at all times.
An email requesting to be put on core clerkship waiting lists may be sent to Caroline Cheang, Associate Director of Clerkship Administration, Registrar’s Office.
Students need to get approval from the clerkship directors to drop any clerkships at the last minute or during the 4-week no-drop period. Approval emails need to be forwarded to Caroline Cheang, Associate Director of Clerkship Administration, Registrar’s Office, who will manually drop the clerkship from the student’s Fishbowl schedule.
The Shuffle is the lottery scheduling system 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. She will manually add approved clerkships onto the students’ Fishbowl schedules.
The weekly shuffles can only be used to move non-core clerkships. All core clerkship movements need to be manually done by Caroline Cheang, Associate Director of Clerkship Administration, Registrar’s Office.
All clerkships are closed 4 weeks prior to their start date. Once the clerkships are closed, they are locked in the system and cannot be dropped. Weekly shuffles will not change any locked clerkships.
Final evaluations for each clerkship scheduled on the student’s Fishbowl schedule will be created on MedHub 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. See VLSO Student Essentials 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 Fishbowl 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.
For each upcoming quarter, visiting student applications are accepted during a one-month period: April for Summer, July for Autumn, October for Winter, and January for Spring quarter. 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 (P1, P2 and P3) during the first 2 weeks in May, Autumn (P4, P5, P6) during the first 2 weeks in August, Winter (P7, P8 and P9) during the first 2 weeks in November, and Spring (P10, P11 and P12) during the first 2 weeks in February.
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, we cannot rescind a clerkship since the visiting student likely has made arrangements to travel and participate in the scheduled clerkship.
