Visiting Medical Student Rotation Information
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine accepts visiting students from other accredited medical schools from June – December each year. Applications are made through the Visiting Student Application Service (VSLO).
Our catalog will be viewable on VSLO on February 24th, 2025 and online applications open March 3rd, 2025. Applications are processed and most offers extended no sooner than 12 weeks prior to each elective start date. Due to the mandatory orientation and related trainings on the first day, we are unable to be flexible with rotation dates.
*Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we are unable to provide application status updates.*
In order to rotate at Vanderbilt, your school must have an affiliation agreement with Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. We recommend that institutions sign on to the AAMC Uniform Clinical Training Agreement, as we have.
Affiliation Agreements
Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we have made the decision to pursue new affiliation agreements only if a student has been accepted for a rotation at Vanderbilt.
The requirement in VSLO should be fulfilled by the home school admin including the contact information for the individual responsible for handling affiliation agreements at the sending school. If the student is accepted for rotation, we will reach out to set up an affiliation agreement if one is not already in place.
Send an email to visitingmed@vanderbilt.edu with any questions.
Eligibility Requirements
In order to be a visiting student at Vanderbilt, you must:
- be in your 4th year of medical school
- attend a University that has an affiliation agreement with Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
- have either BLS or ACLS training that has not expired
- Passing Step 1 or Step 2, or COMLEX score
Some electives, require a letter of interest or a letter of recommendation. Please be sure to check the specific elective requirements.
Completing an Application
An application is considered complete when it contains uploads of a student’s:
- Complete Student Information section (including DOB)
- CV
- Transcript
- Home Institution provides proof of scrub training
- USMLE Step 1 or Step 2 Score Report or COMLEX
Incomplete applications will be deemed ineligible and will not be reconsidered. For
complete applications, the individual department reviews the VSLO applications specific
to that specialty. Students may not take more than one (1) electives. Please note that our
Student Health department reviews the immunization records of each invited student. Applications will not be rejected based on missing health requirements. You will be given time to complete the requirements prior to the start date.
If you have been invited to rotate
We begin processing post decision review documents around 30 days prior to the start of your rotation. After we process the documents, we will send the confirmation in VSLO. PLEASE NOTE: as soon as you accept our conditional offer, your spot is confirmed. The VSLO confirmation serves as just a formality.
If you receive an invitation to rotate, you will need to complete these 4 items:
- Accept the invitation in VSLO within one (1) week
- Pay the $180.00 non-refundable processing fee for visiting students via our online platform. A payment link will be sent to you in your VSLO acceptance email. You must create an account to pay the fee. Meharry Medical College students are exempt from this fee due to the Meharry Vanderbilt Alliance.
- Upload a recent criminal background check (within last 12 months) to your VSLO
profile. Although the CBC needs to be a national check, we neither recommend nor
require any one particular company. Please also upload a photo for ID badge processing. - Upload a completed AAMC Immunization Form and Vanderbilt Required Additional Immunization Addendum (available on VSLO).
Housing
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine does not provide housing for visiting medical
students.
The following links may be helpful:
Rotating Room (for Medical Students)
Please Note
Students may NOT contact individual course directors. In addition, due to the high volume of applications, we regret that we cannot take phone calls related to VSLO applications.