Away Electives Guidelines
- Approved by GMEC in June 2010
These guidelines are to be used for all away electives, except those, which have been established and are the subject of current agreements. The guidelines will refer to these rotations as “Away Electives”.
Process
Residents seeking Away Electives must complete the application that can be found on the NYP Infonet. Applications must be submitted one hundred twenty days prior to an International and/or long term recurring Rotation and one hundred twentydays for a Domestic one time Rotation. These requests will be reviewed and approved by the GMEC executive committee and presented for approval to the campus specific GMEC meetings. Rotations requests unable to meet these timelines should be submitted to the GME Office for evaluation on a case by case basis by the DIO.
Categorization of Elective Requests
The following criteria will be used to assess and queue the rotation requests:
- RRC required and occur outside of the NYP system
- Systems/Program Development/Infrastructure Design (potentially-- programs that are ongoing and may be funded and accompanied by faculty and might have little to no patient contact). This might also include residents who are involved with multi-institutional research efforts
- Clinical rotations that are funded and ongoing with well developed relationship to NYP or the medical schools. The expectation is that there is a near constant presence of Columbia or Cornell teaching faculty.
- Clinical rotations that are value added to the residents education but not mandatory for board certification ( for example--working with a population with a surgical condition not routinely seen in the US or a population that has a high prevalence of rheumatic disease or congenital defects)
- All other clinical rotations such as “auditions”, cultural immersion and language immersion
Expectations for Away Rotations
All Away Electives must have specific educational goals and objectives defined for the rotation. These shall be reviewed and approved by the Residency Director.
Pre-requisites:
Residents requesting Away Electives must be in substantial compliance with all departmental and hospital requirements. Residents who have demonstrated a pattern of significant non-compliance with hospital programs will not be allowed to pursue these electives.
All Away Electives must have an attestation from the Program Director to state that costs, contact information, educational goals and objectives, specific evaluation parameters and post elective presentations have been discussed with the resident and the s/he feels that they have been adequately addressed. For international electives, this must also include medical concerns such as vaccines and prophylaxis. It is highly recommended, especially for first time travel to a country that the resident review a reference resource concerning local customs and traditions.
For international Away Electives, residents are highly encouraged to procure medical and emergency evacuation insurance at their own expense.
This coverage is available from multiple sources including major credit card companies. The links for two commercially available products, for comparison purposes, are listed below.
Residents, who are participating in international electives, prior to their departure, will be required to provide to their Program Director a detailed travel itinerary including in-country contact information.
Away Elective Supervision
All away elective rotations must have a designated on-site supervisor for the rotation who will work with the resident on a regular basis throughout the rotation and be in a position to provide evaluation and feedback on the resident’s performance during the rotation. This individual must be identified and approved by the Residency Director prior to the approval of the elective.
The on-site supervisor must provide both written and verbal evaluation and feedback to the resident and written evaluation of the resident’s performance to the program. When feasible, it is best to use on-line access to E-Value to provide this feedback.
Summation
Residents who return from International away electives will be expected to provide a report on their experience to their colleagues in the training program. This may consist of a formal presentation at a departmental educational conference or other format as deemed appropriate by the Department.
Safety of Residents
An away elective may involve some finite risk to the individual resident. (ex. A surgical rotation operating on patients with HIV.) However, residents who elect to perform an away elective should be working in a setting with appropriate institutional/organizational structure and support. This means that for all electives, especially international, appropriate and safe housing, food, transportation, and personal support should be available to the resident during the elective. The elective should be conducted through an appropriate institutional entity that can provide assurance that such support is available to the resident.
Residents who are traveling outside of the United States, Canada, or Western Europe are strongly encouraged to consult with a physician to determine appropriate vaccination status and to obtain appropriate prophylaxis or other medications if indicated:
The Center for Disease Control issues 4 levels of “Travel Notices”. The highest level of notice termed a “Travel Health Warning” recommends that travelers postpone any “non-essential travel” to the area noted. Residents who are applying for an Away Out Rotation must document the CDC level in their application.
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/default.aspx