Visiting Medical Students

Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Atrium Health are considering applications for visiting 4th-year medical student clinical opportunities for both Charlotte, NC, and Winston-Salem, NC, locations.

Visiting MD and DO applications through VSLO (Visiting Student Learning Opportunities) will open March 15, 2023 and will be coordinated through Wake Forest University School of Medicine’s Comprehensive Learner Management Office.

The School of Medicine requires an approved affiliation agreement with your home institution to allow for participation in the Visiting Student Program. The approved agreement must be in place no later than 30 days before the start date of your rotation.

All requests to establish affiliation agreements must be submitted by an appropriate home school representative only, via email to affiliationagreement@wakehealth.edu.

The request should include:

• Official name of the institution or school of medicine
• Location of institution or school of medicine
• Type of program (i.e., MD, DO)
• Length of program
• Compelling educational reason to establish agreement
• Home representative or institution contact information

All students who apply to the Visiting Student Program must upload the following information to their VSLO application before it will be reviewed:

• Curriculum vitae
• Academic transcript
• Photo
• Copy of Professional Liability Certificate of Coverage or statement from home school on letterhead indicating coverage limits and dates of coverage (minimum of $1 million per instance, and $3 million in total).

Some programs may require the submission of additional requirements which includes:

• Two letters of recommendation from a faculty member with whom the student has worked in an inpatient setting (two outpatient letters are acceptable for those students applying to a research elective). The letter should address the clinical skills and abilities of the student. 
• Statement of education goals for elective experience at the School of Medicine. This should specify your objectives for the elective experience.
• Copy of passing scores from the Step 1 – USMLE (copy of NBME results) or COMLEX for osteopathic medical students.

There will be additional requirements when you accept an elective rotation. More information will be provided at that time by email.

Students must be aware of the following requirements that impact the consideration of their application for a rotation:

• Accepted students may be displaced and their rotation canceled if the health system has a shortage of PPE, a surge in COVID patients which impacts services within the health system, and/or other unforeseen conditions.

Visiting students who are approved will need to provide documentation that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (i.e. have received an FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine or vaccine series) at least 2 weeks prior to beginning the rotation.

Our catalog becomes visible in VSLO on March 1 with the ability to apply to electives on March 15 until September 1. All approved visiting students must adhere to the School of Medicine Year 4 rotation schedule start dates. Any scheduling changes will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Reach out to the respective clerkship coordinators for more information.

The Scholarship Clerkship Program for Visiting Medical Students is administered by the School of Medicine’s Office of Student Inclusion and Diversity for students visiting the Winston-Salem campus.

This program is designed to promote diversity in the residency programs at the School of Medicine and annually offers scholarship assistance to visiting fourth-year medical students rotating in:

Visiting Medical Students who wish to rotate on the Charlotte Campus of Wake Forest University School of Medicine are also eligible for URIM scholarships specific to the Charlotte campus.

The Atrium Health URIM Scholarship Program is funded by the Atrium Health Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. This program is designed to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in the residency programs at Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center and annually offers scholarship assistance to visiting 4th-year medical students who are underrepresented in medicine and rotating in a department at Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center or Atrium Health Cabarrus that has an associated ACGME Residency Program. These programs currently include:

• Emergency medicine
• Family medicine
• Internal medicine
• Neurosurgery
• Pediatrics
• Psychiatry
• Physical medicine & rehabilitation
• Obstetrics and gynecology
• Orthopedics
• Surgery
• Urology

The program will provide opportunities to network with URIM faculty, residents and students in addition to an excellent clinical learning experience.

Applicants must be 4th-year, U.S. medical school students in good standing at a medical school accredited by the Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME) or the Education Department of the American Osteopathic Association.

Applicants may be eligible to complete up to one four-week elective with rotation periods typically starting in June. Students from groups traditionally underrepresented in medicine or from economically disadvantaged backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

Accepted students will receive a stipend to assist with housing and travel expenses.

Interested students must submit the visiting student application through Visiting Student Learning Opportunities (VSLO) in addition to the Charlotte specific scholarship application. The scholarship application is a separate application and will only be reviewed after you have been accepted for a visiting rotation.

Visiting final year medical students who are enrolled in programs outside of the United States should email Sheila Rutledge, program coordinator for global health, at globalhealth@wakehealth.edu for more information.

• Approved visiting students will need to provide documentation that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (i.e., have received an FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine or vaccine series) at least 2 weeks prior to beginning the rotation.
• Will adhere to current institutional policies on masking and social distancing. 
• Adhere to institutional, CDC and North Carolina state guidelines.
• Self-monitor for symptoms.
• Provide information as soon as possible about exposures that may affect patients, other students, faculty or staff at WFBH facilities.
• Proceed as noted below for any suspected exposures.

If a learner has a suspected COVID-19 exposure:

• Learners will need to report potential workplace exposures to our Employee Health Portal and will follow the guidance of the Employee Health staff from that point forward.

If a learner is symptomatic:

• They must not report to the clinical area
• They should notify their preceptor
• They should report symptoms through the Employee Health Portal and follow the guidance of the Employee Health staff from that point forward.