In this issue:
- Non-Clinical Electives Are Open for Registration
- AAMC Herbert W. Nickens Medical Student Scholarships
- Career Advising Tip of the Month
Non-Clinical Electives Are Open for Registration
Non-Clinical Electives (NCEs) are available now for registration! Please register before the deadline on Monday, March 30, 2026!
Please visit the following webpages to view the electives offered at your site:
For Seattle students
For Spokane, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho students
Important points to keep in mind:
- Students register for electives just as they do for required blocks, so you must follow the UW registration deadlines (See the UW Academic Calendar for details).
- Monday, March 30, 2026, is when the late registration fee ($25) begins.
- Electives are optional and always secondary to required coursework. Required sessions and exams take priority. With prior approval, some electives may allow students to miss a limited session if there is a conflict with required coursework. However, no exam may ever be missed for elective participation—exams always take precedence.
- Electives do not always run on the same schedule as medical school classes. Please double-check the dates and times, including final exam times, start and end quarter dates, etc.
- If you register for the course and do not participate, you will receive an NC grade. Please drop the course if you are not planning to attend.
To find out more information about registration deadlines, late course changes/adds/drops etc. for NCEs, please visit the Non-Clinical Elective Registration webpage.
AAMC Herbert W. Nickens Medical Student Scholarships
Nominations are open for the 2026 Association of American Medical Colleges Herbert W. Nickens Medical Student Scholarships. UWSOM will nominate one student entering their third year in Fall 2026. Five $5,000 scholarships recognize leadership advancing equal opportunity in medical education and access to quality care for underserved communities. Recipients must attend Learn Serve Lead 2026 (November 6–10, 2026 in Anaheim; travel costs covered by AAMC).
To be considered, email Andrea L. Walker (adminsa@uw.edu) by Monday, March 9 at 12 PM PST with a 100–500 character statement and a list of leadership roles. The selected nominee should be prepared for an extensive application packet.
Learn more about the scholarship and the application process
Career Advising Student Advisory Board Tip of the Month
We hope Step 1 dedicated is going well! We won’t overwhelm you with career advising tasks but pay attention to which topics you enjoy reviewing. This might be a helpful clue as to which specialty you will enjoy one day. Keep up the great work! You got this!
At the same time, we know some of you are thinking about your Patient Care Phase schedules and wondering about taking a 2-week, pass/fail elective during your “off-block”. Career Advising recently recorded a short video with Dr. Maya Sardesai, Assistant Dean of Student Development, to address some of your elective block questions. Watch this short video now and review the Elective Selection website for even more info.
Edited & reviewed by MS4 Cara Chapman. Originally written by alum Shanelle Briggs, MD.
Career Advising welcomes tips and ideas from all students. Please reach out to Career Advising at medadv@uw.edu.
This link takes you to past information for MS2s.