Vanderbilt University School of Medicine accepts visiting students from other accredited medical schools. Applications are made through the Visiting Student Application Service (VSLO). Vanderbilt’s annual elective catalog opens for review on February 15, 2019. The online application opens March 15, 2019. Applications are processed and offers extended no more than 8 weeks prior to each elective. Due to the mandatory orientation and related trainings on the first day, we are unable to be flexible with regards to rotation dates.
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.
Send an email to visitingmed@vanderbilt.edu with any questions. No phone calls, please.
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.
- have either BLS or ACLS training that has not expired.
Some electives, like Orthopaedics, require a letter of recommendation. You would upload that LOR under Supplementation Documents on your VSLO profile.
Completing an Application
An application is considered complete when it includes uploads of a student’s:
- Full name, including middle initial
- CV
- Transcript
- Photo
- Date of birth
- USMLE Step 1 score report
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 two (2) electives. Please note that our Student Health department reviews the immunization records of each invited student. If something is missing, it will not cause your application to be rejected. We will give you time to get it done.
If you have been invited to rotate
Once you receive an invitation to rotate, you will need to do 5 things:
- Accept the invitation in VSLO within one week.
- Submit a $160 check or money order, payable to Vanderbilt School of Medicine, to Office of Enrollment Services, Eskind Biomedical Library Suite 224, 2209 Garland Avenue, Nashville, TN 37240-0740. This secures your spot.
- 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.
- Upload a completed AAMC uniform immunization form PLUS a Vanderbilt immunization addendum. (Note: both forms are required).
- Upload a recent criminal background check (must be in last 12 months).
Housing
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine does not provide housing for visiting medical students.
The following links may be helpful:
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.