Policy Statement
The Academic Affairs Office is responsible for overseeing the visiting student program, including developing appropriate administrative procedures for visiting student application and registration, and incorporating the visiting student guidelines recommended by the AAMC-Group on Student Affairs.
Requirements, Procedures and Guidelines
Visiting Medical Students from LCME or COCA/AOA Accredited Medical Schools
Students apply through the AAMC Visiting Student Application Service (VSAS) and comply with UWSOM compliance requirements and University of Washington Medicine standards for malpractice insurance coverage.
The University of Washington School of Medicine limits the number of international students who may enroll as visiting students to those who are sponsored by a University of Washington faculty member. This includes all medical students, including American and Canadian citizens, who attend medical schools outside of the United States and Canada, and whose schools are not accredited by the LCME. An international medical student may not apply for elective clinical course work without an approved sponsor identified.
Visiting students are not eligible to register for the School of Medicine’s Foundations Phase block or longitudinal courses given in Seattle or at the regional Foundations Phase sites.
Required Clerkships: All required clerkships are restricted to medical students enrolled in the University of Washington School of Medicine’s WWAMI Program and approved to pursue the MD degree. These include all clerkships offered in Seattle and all regional sites.
Clinical Electives: University of Washington School of Medicine students approved to pursue the MD degree have priority in the scheduling process for clinical electives. Visiting students from LCME-accredited schools may be scheduled if positions are available after the University of Washington medical students have been accommodated.
Under special circumstances, an arrangement may be made for a visiting student to participate in an elective within the region. The University of Washington School of Medicine has special affiliation agreements with a small number of international medical schools. If the student’s home school has such an agreement with the University of Washington School of Medicine, special rules, other than those noted above may apply. For this reason, and others related to immigration law and malpractice insurance, the Academic Affairs Office closely monitors visiting students.
A visiting student’s performance is evaluated by UWSOM faculty and residents utilizing the evaluation form provided by the visiting student’s home medical school, and credit for the elective is given and recorded on the visiting student’s home school’s transcript.
Effective: Current
Last updated: August 11, 2020
Policy Contact: UW School of Medicine, Curriculum Office, somgov@uw.edu; Education Quality Improvement Office, eqi@uw.edu