The elective consists of a couple of hours of radiology lectures/workshops a day. Students can sit in with radiologists in the morning before lectures. This elective makes students more familiar with reading x-rays, CT scans, MRIs, but will not turn you into an expert at reading any of these modalities. It is very useful for making students aware of what types of imaging are available, and what modality is most useful in certain situations. The work required for this rotation is minimal, as students have a couple of short presentations to make during the course of the elective.

This elective allows students to get a good amount of hands-on experience. Students usually get to choose where they would like to work (OR, critical care, OB , pain management, etc). Students get to participate in intubation, IV placement. The hours are usually very good, and there are no formal assignments to complete during the rotation.

Students spend the days in the dermatology clinic, usually shadowing one of the residents. Students can also spend some time on the dermatology consult service. Students participate in all of the dermatology conferences. While on the rotation, students get exposed to a good variety of dermatology cases. Students prepare a short presentation at the end of the clerkship.

On this rotation, students work with the ID fellow and attending. Students will be assigned to see consult patients by the fellow. Students do the initial evaluation of the patient and then present them to the fellow. Students will later present the patient to the attending during rounds (usually in the afternoon). There are no formal assignments, though the ID attending may ask the student to give a couple of presentations. Being a consult service, this rotation can occasionally have long hours, though usually a 9AM to 5 PM rotation.

This rotation is essentially a sub-I in emergency medicine (though you are unable to order entries on the computer). The schedule will vary a bit based on how many students are on the rotation. Students do most of the rotations at the Bellevue ER, usually about 5 shifts per week (8-hour shifts). On this rotation, students have a lot of autonomy when evaluating the patients, and report either to a senior resident or attending. Students get to perform a number of procedures during this rotation. Responsibilities include participating in resident conferences and doing a case presentation for the attending and students at the end of the clerkship.

The whole service from residents to attendings are very happy to have students. One week is spent in the OR and the second week is at their outpatient clinic. While at tisch, students must be there for rounds at 6:30am and then you will scrub in any where from 3-5 surgeries that day. There are no specific student responsibilities other than showing up and helping on the floor when asked. At clinic, you will be paired with a different attending each day. Depending on the attending, you will be allowed to practice the male physical exam. Much of the clinic week is shadowing, but you do get to see the whole spectrum of outpatient urology.

Depending on the quality of your project and your mentor’s approval, school has granted up to 12 weeks of research credit to a student. That said, 6 is more the norm. A research elective is a good idea if you actually care of the research you are doing. If you think of it as an easy month off or are not prepared to work hard, you will do yourself a disservice in addition to not accomplishing much. I’d recommend only doing a research elective if you can complete unfinished work (like from summer research) or if you feel you can reach a true goal (even a small one) in the time you allot.

This elective can be done at Bellevue or the VA. This is an extremely student-dependent elective. You can spend time at the VA or Bellevue clinics or you can go to the OR. There is no set curriculum. Hours are typical clinic hours – one morning session, one afternoon session. Interaction is primarily with residents at the VA and occasionally with attendings at Bellevue . You should request to go to Manhattan Eye and Ear Infirmary clinics and OR for a week – it’s a rich experience. This elective is primarily for people who want to do optho. If you are just looking for a taste, choose the 2 week elective – it’ll be plenty.

You can find electives online from different institutions' websites as well as AMSA's site.  Apply early (up to 6 months in advance).  Some places will have a non-refundable application fee.  Print out necessary forms, fill them out, and get them to the Registar's.  You will often need the following supporting

Immunization Record (get a copy from Student Health)
Proof of USMLE Step 1 completion (copy of your score report)
ACLS certification (photocopy the cards you receive after the course)
Proof of Health Insurance (photocopy your insurance card)
A Letter from the Registrar
Proof of HIPAA Workshop completion (from Registrar)

Some electives (like Harvard programs) will be on the NYU block schedule, and it's easy.  Others (like UCSF) are on a different block schedule, and in order to make the one month elective work, you will have to take off 2 one month NYU blocks.  You can fill in the free weeks with two week electives if you like.