Scheduling Electives

Electives are scheduled in the spring of the third year, and are sometimes taken late in the third year. Students schedule electives with the Office of Student Affairs. A full listing of the electives Yale offers can be found here.

Most electives are four weeks long. However, students may arrange to spend less than four weeks with a preceptor. Performance on an elective of longer than two weeks will be evaluated using the same grading scale as required clerkship. Electives of two weeks or less are graded as Pass or Fail.

Cancelling a Scheduled Elective

• Students must notify the Office of Student Affairs of plans to cancel the elective at least four weeks before the start of the elective. Failure to do so will result in an “Incomplete” being recorded on the student’s transcript.
• Students must complete an add/drop form requesting cancellation. This must also be approved by your Academic Advisor.  A copy is forwarded to the appropriate department.

Electives at Other Institutions

Students planning to do a clinical rotation at another institution must notify the Office of Student Affairs once approved for the elective. It is imperative that the student's schedule accurately reflects their activities. It is also the student’s responsibility to provide the Office of Student Affairs with the name and email address of the person who will be assessing the student's performance so that an evaluation form can be sent directly to the institution. The narrative comments and grade from this rotation will be included in the Dean's letter.