• Which Documents we need to apply for electives?
• Which Documents should we get after electives?
• When to apply for electives?
• Where to go for electives?
• Is there any use of electives in fields other than field/specialty of interest?
• How many weeks of electives/ number of electives are enough/sufficient?
• How to get a sponsor for electives?
• Which medical school need sponsorship from Faculty members?
• How can I improve my chances for acceptance for electives in any medical school?
• How much time does it take to get malpractice coverage?
• What is the cost of malpractice coverage?
• Which malpractice coverage I should go for?
• My medical school is not a well-reputed one...can I get electives in US?
• How much TOEFL helps for electives?
• How much score do I need to get in TOEFL?
• How much USMLE Step 1 help for electives?
• What to write in 'Column of description of clinical activities in home school'?
• Can I get a acceptance after rejection?
• How can I improve my CV?
• Is there any use of doing short-term research/observership/electives?
• On which visa to go for electives/ which visa we need for electives?
• Should I go for electives on a J1 visa?
• Is step 1 necessary for observership/electives?
• Am I late for electives?

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Depends upon the university you are applying to. Usually it includes the following:

* Completed Application Form
* Completed Health Form with Titers, Mantoux Test report and Immunization Certificate
* Health Insurance
* Malpractice Coverage
* Personal Statement
* CV
* Letter of Intent
* Cover Letter
* HIPAA certificate
* OSHA certificate

# The first two are required by every university and few of the remaining are required by some universities in addition to first two. Thats why it is always advisable to contact Electives Co-ordinators before sending your applications. You dont want to send incomplete applications are be rejected.


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You should try to get a proof of your elective from the university. Some do give LORs and some dont... if you dont impress them. Its always better to get a LOR alongwith an Evaluation form signed....for your college...even if your college does not require it. For further details on it and regarding its sample, please visit the Electives section.

1. As soon as you can....although many good universities do not fill spots on "first come first serve basis" but even then I dont think there is any point of waiting and delaying your application when all the documents are ready. First complete your application and documents, double check them and send them.
2. It is advisable to apply 8-10 months in advance but you can also be accepted by applying even 4-6 months before the starting date of electives.

First of all get electives wherever you find them and if you are lucky enough to have multiple acceptances.... it depends upon what are your priorities...

* which specialty you have your electives in? is it in your specialty of choice? the first thing....
* is it in a top university program? the second factor...
* is it in a state where you want to live in with some relatives/friends? This can be the first factor for many of you.

Yes it is always better to have Something than Nothing but its always better to secure a elective in the specialty of your choice. A Medicine/ Medicine sub-specialty LOR would be better than an Opthalmology LOR for applying into a IM program but again Opthalmology LOR is better than no LOR for IM residency.

1 month- something is better than nothing
3 months- good
6 months- very very good
1 year- ideal

These hold true for clinical fields like IM/FP/Surgery etc

Any question you ask regarding steps, electives, research etc.......its answer would depend on one simple fact.... which specialty you want to pursue your medical career....e.g clinical electives are always considered superior to research electives for surgery/medicine fields but research electives/ research carry far more weightage than clinical electives in feilds like Pathology, Radiology etc. first finalise your specialty and then go through the residency programs of that field to see their eligibility requirements.


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For Henry Ford:
You can contact the faculty members by the emails. You cant find the email addresses of the faculty on the website, but you can find the names of faculty members on it.
Go to www.henryford.com and then go to 'Find Doctors'.
There is a formula for determining the email addresses from their first and second names.
So, what you need to do to get the email ID of a faculty is using the FIRST LETTER OF THE FIRST NAME and FIRST SIX LETTERS OF THE 2ND NAME and THEN ADDING 1 before @hfhs.org
For example, If the name of Faculty is Steven Harrison, then the email ID will be sharris1@hfhs.org (same thing: FIRST LETTER OF THE FIRST NAME and FIRST SIX LETTERS OF THE 2ND NAME and THEN ADDING 1 before @hfhs.org)
You must always send your CV in the email for request of sponsor, stating your purpose and desire to do electives in Henry Ford.
You should send emails to a number of faculty members, because only a few one are going to reply you back.
While emailing anyone, whether its elective coordinator or faculty member, dont start with words like madam/sir. You can always start with words like Dear Dr. Harrison.
For Emory:
The email IDs are available on their website, in the faculty corner of each department.
Again, you should email as many faculty members as you can with your CV, because only a few one are going to answer you. You should not email without attaching your CV.

Henry Ford, Emory, Lousiana and few more like JHUSOM, UCSFfor research electives.

1. TOEFL/ USMLE step 1 are big plus points but a good CV and good personal statement along with good documentation and proper filling of application forms are far more important. Its the combination of all these which counts.
2. TOEFL is not a bad deal for 165 $. Hundreds of dollars are spent in application fees and thousands of dollars in tuition fees and if you spend mere 165 $ for TOEFL it increases your chances tremendously. Moreover it opens many new good new places for you that have no fees e.g NIH