Steps to Prepare for Preferencing


Step 1	Decide what's important to you about your Patient Care schedule. Is it... .....when you take a particular clerkship? .....the geographic area where you take a particular clerkship (called "zones")? .....the particular site where you take a particular clerkship?		Pro tip: It may help to think about what's important to you from the flip side: what doesn't really matter. If you don't care when you take your clerkships as long as they all end up on your schedule (and they will), then don't spend time (or preferences) trying to prioritize their timing.
Step 2	Know what clerkships are in the Patient Care phase.	Phase 2: Patient Care	Pro tip: In addition to the six required Patient Care clerkships you can also preference elective/time off in EVOS. Your schedule will include 6 weeks for that.
Step 3	Know the time frames during which clerkships are offered.	2025-2026 UW Clinical Calendar	Pro tip: Internal Medicine is a 12 week course. The other five Patient Care clerkships are 6 weeks long.
Step 4	Know what sites are available for what clerkships.	Clerkship Sites	Note: This is 2023-24 availability which will be similar to - but not exactly the same as - 2024-25. We'll update this as soon as possible. Pro tip: While all clerkships are taught in every time frame, preceptor availability and other site constraints may mean that a site cannot offer a clerkship at a particular time.
Step 5	Understand zones and know what sites are in what zones.	Sites in Each Zone	Pro tip: EVOS groups specific course sites into zones so that you can have that as an option when preferencing. For example, you may not care about which specific site you take a particular clerkship at as long as it's somewhere in Wyoming. Pro tip: Be careful not to assume Site X is in Zone Y. For example, are sites in Tacoma part of greater Seattle? Use the zone guide to see what particular sites fall into what zones.
Step 6	Create your list of up to 20 preferences. Your first preference should be what's most important to you. Your second preference should be what's next in importance to you. Your third preference should be...you get the idea.		Pro tip: You don't have to use all 20 preferences but you probably should.