Away Rotations
Most institutions use VSLO to process their applications for clinical electives. Vanderbilt University School of Medicine students may opt to take up to 3 away clinical rotations but only 2 will count toward their Immersion graduation requirements (as competency/interest-driven rotations). It is important that Vanderbilt students rotate at an institution that has an Affiliation Agreement established. View a list of over 150 institutions that have an Affiliation Agreement with Vanderbilt.
Away Rotations FAQs
This is very important! You cannot register yourself. You will need to download Form 7100: Petition for Clinical Rotation (Away) and either email completed form with Vanderbilt department approval signature to medregistrar@vanderbilt.edu and miranda.l.mclaughlin@vanderbilt.edu or bring it to our office in 224 Eskind Biomedical Library. This form a) enables us to enroll you in the elective and b) provides us a contact name so that we can track down your evaluation and enter a grade to your transcript. 7100 FORM MUST BE SUBMITTED 28 DAYS PRIOR TO THE START OF YOUR ROTATION OR YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE CREDIT TOWARDS GRADUATION.
Students who wish to complete a 4-week away in Family Medicine or a 3-week away (which must meet the 3-week away guidelines) should complete the online REDCap form at https://redcap.vanderbilt.edu/surveys/?s=A4L3H3A9E994WLCF
7100 FORM MUST BE SUBMITTED 28 DAYS PRIOR TO THE START OF YOUR ROTATION OR YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE CREDIT TOWARDS GRADUATION. All you need to do is email the 7100 Form to the VUSM Course director that is in charge of the elective you are seeking away credit in with the course description. On the 7100 form, you must list the specialty of your away rotation, and receive an approval signature from the speciality course approver below. Email the completed and signed form to medregistrar@vanderbilt.edu and miranda.l.mclaughlin@vanderbilt.edu After both of these steps are completed, we will register you and it will appear in YES. Below is a list of approvers:
| SPECIALTY | APPROVER |
| Anesthesiology | Dr. Britany Raymond |
| Dermatology | Dr. John Zic |
| Emergency Medicine | Dr. Corey Slovis or Dr. Kendra Parekh |
| Family Medicine | Dr. Kendra Parekh or Dr. Lourdes Estrada - submit separate Redcap Form for Family Medicine Away Rotation Approval |
| Interdisciplinary | Dr. Amy Fleming |
| Medicine | Dr. John McPherson |
| Neurology | Dr. Martin Gallagher |
| Ob/Gyn | Dr. Charles Rush |
| Ophthalmology | Dr. Janice Law |
| Orthopaedics | Dr. Phillip Mitchell |
| Otolaryngology | Dr. Amy Whigham |
| Pathology | Dr. Jim Atkinson |
| Pediatrics | Dr. Maya Neeley |
| Psychiatry | Dr. Terako Amison |
| Radiology | Dr. Katie Davis |
| Radiation Oncology | Dr. Zachary Kohutek |
| Surgery Critical Care | Dr. Shannon Eastham |
| General Surgery | Dr. Steven Eskind |
| Vascular Surgery | Dr. CL Garrard |
| Colon and Rectal Surgery | Dr. Roberta Muldoon |
| Hepatobiliary Surgery | Dr. Martin Montenovo |
| GI/Lap Surgery | Dr. Meredith Duke |
| Neuro Surgery | Dr. Lola Chambless |
| Cardiac Surgery | Dr. Melissa LeVack |
| Thoracic Surgery | Dr. Erin Gillaspie |
| Urology | Dr. Abby S. Taylor |
| Pediatric Surgery | Dr. Irving Zamora |
| Surgical Oncology | Dr. Colleen Kiernan |
| Plastic Surgery | Dr. Lauren Connor |
| Kidney/Pancreas Transplant | Dr. Rachel Forbes |
| Trauma Surgery | Dr. Jill Streams |
| Post-Surgical Critical Care | Dr. John Barwise |
We are happy to help you with the application process for a non-VSLO school. Please email Miranda McLaughlin for further assistance.
It is critical that you rotate at an institution that has an Affiliation Agreement with Vanderbilt. View a list of over 150 institutions with whom Vanderbilt has an affiliation agreement. When planning an away rotation (either a clinical elective or primary care rotation), students choose from this list of institutions.
Not at all! Make sure you visit the VSLO website and review the specific requirements of each institution, as well as the date when that institution’s application opens online. If you feel strongly about rotating at a particular school, you’ll want to make sure you’re one of the first applicants. Many schools enroll on a first-come-first-serve basis.
No need! We will be going into VSLO twice a day in the coming months and will receive a notification when you have an application that needs to be verified and/or released.
No. The beauty of VSLO—much like the Common App or AMCAS—is that you can upload your documents one time. Just make sure you assign your documents to the different host institutions to which you’re applying.
Most institutions require a recent criminal background check. When you get that email, follow the steps to process your criminal background check. Then it will come to us and we will upload it to your record in VSLO.
We are in the process of creating a letter for each of you that addresses your expected graduation date, the core clerkships you’ve completed, your various trainings (BLS, ACLS, mask fit, etc.) and your personal health and malpractice insurance. We will upload these letters to VSLO for each of you within the next two weeks. This will suffice for the institutions’ requirements.
Institutions will either have their own immunization form for you to complete or they will use a standard form. Make sure you read the information about the institution and know what they require. For signatures on immunization records, please contact the Student Health department at studenthealth@vumc.org.
Just leave that blank. Do not put N/A.
There is a dashboard in VSLO where you will be able to check on the status.
Go into YES (Your Enrollment Services) and request that it be delivered to miranda.l.mclaughlin@vanderbilt.edu. We will get notification that your transcript is ready and we will upload it to your VSLO record. It’s that simple!
Grades are determined by the host institution. If a host institution only offers pass/fail grading, this is explained on the transcript.