Medical School Electives
Sinai Hospital offers electives for medical students in a variety of specialty and sub-specialty areas. The minimum requirements for acceptance for rotations in any area are a medical school cumulative grade point average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) and a passing score on the first attempt of the USMLE Step 1 or COMLEX Level 1.
International Students must submit a copy of their passport and TOEFL test scores with the application package. A total score of 100 with a minimum score of 25 in each of the four skill areas is required.
Contact the Medical Education Office
Once you have selected an elective:
- Complete Part 1 (page 1) of the Application form.
- Have your medical school complete Part II.
- Provide the required verifications and documentation listed on the application.
- Read, sign and return the Confidentiality Agreement
- Email or mail the application and required documentation to the Medical Education Office:
Residents rotating to or taking an elective at Sinai Hospital MUST complete an application form and submit the required documentation to the Medical Education Office. A complete application package much be received by the Medical Education Office at least two months prior to the rotation/elective start date. Upon receipt of a complete application package, we will review and, if the applicant meets the minimum and departmental requirements, the application will be shared with the department for review. The applicant will be notified of the final decision of the department.
Sinai Hospital does not have housing on campus and arrangements must be made on an individual basis by the student.
The following departments have additional requirements:
- Medicine students must have completed a basic medicine clerkship and passed the USMLE Step 1 or COMLEX Level 1 on the first attempt.
- Pediatrics requires that medical students seeking electives in their department have completed a basic pediatric clerkship with a passing score on the USMLE Step 1 or COMLEX Level 1 on the first attempt.
- Ophthalmology only accepts American medical school students. The program requires an official medical school transcript, CV and a short letter of interest.
- Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation requires medical students to be in their third or fourth year.
- Obstetrics and Gynecology requires that medical students seeking electives in their department have completed an OB/GYN clerkship, have a medical school cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher and a passing score on the first attempt on the USMLE Step 1 or the COMLEX Level 1.
- Orthopedic Surgery requires medical school students to be in their third or fourth year. They must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher, and have passed the USMLE Step 1 or the COMLEX Level 1 on the first attempt.
- Surgery requires medical school students to be in their third or fourth year, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher, and have passed the USMLE Step 1 or the COMLEX Level 1 on the first attempt.
Maternal Fetal Medicine Elective
Description and Goals of Course: This senior elective is designed to provide students interested in a career in Ob/Gyn a sub-intern experience in a high-risk obstetrical setting. They will receive experience in ultrasound, genetics and the medical and surgical management of complex obstetrical patients. This is all accomplished in a brand-new state-of-the-art facility, and in an atmosphere dedicated to teaching and high-quality patient care.
- Department: Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Title of Course: Maternal Fetal Medicine
- Course Director: Pedro P. Arrabal, M.D.
- Duration: 4 Weeks
- Hours of Participation: Full-time
- Location: Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
2401 W. Belvedere Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21215 - Time of Year Available: All year except June and July
Additional Notes/Prerequisites: Current CV, medical school transcript and USMLE minimum score of 215 or COMLEX minimum score of 525 must be submitted with application materials.
Orthopedic Surgery Elective
Description and Goals of Course: Introduction to clinical orthopedics will involve the evaluation and treatment of musculoskeletal injuries and disorders affecting both adults and children. Time will be spent in an office setting, clinic setting and the emergency department. Ward rounds with Orthopedic Residents and Orthopedic Physician Assistants will occur daily. The student will be expected to join the patient care aspect as appropriate. The student will spend ample time in the operating room as the Orthopedic staff physicians have a wide variety of cases posted every day. Rotations will include: Pediatric Orthopedics, Joint Reconstruction, Hand and General Orthopedics (lasting one week each). There will be ample exposure to splinting, casting and bracing as part of the rotation. Trauma call occurs one night per week.
- Department: Orthopedic Surgery
- Title of Course: Clinical Orthopedics
- Course Director: John Ingari, M.D.
- Duration: 4 Weeks
- Hours of Participation: Full-time
- Number of Students: 2
- Location: Sinai Orthopedic Faculty Practice
Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
2401 W. Belvedere Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21215 - Time of Year Available: All year
Additional Notes/Prerequisites: Medical school students must be in their third or fourth year. They must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher, have passed their USMLE Step 1 or COMLEX Level 1 exam on the first attempt, and have completed a Surgery Basic Clerkship.
Ophthalmology Elective
Description and Goals of Course: The student participates in all activities of the Department of Ophthalmology during this elective. The student will work with both full-time attendings as well as with residents. The student will also observe various surgical procedures performed by members of the department. The student will participate in all conferences and at the conclusion of the elective will be expected to give a lecture on a topic to be determined after the start of the elective.
- Department: Ophthalmology
- Title of Course: Ophthalmology Elective
- Course Director: Laura K. Green, M.D.
- Duration: 2-4 Weeks
- Hours of Participation: Full-time
- Number of Students: 1
- Location: Krieger Eye Institute
Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
2401 W. Belvedere Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21215 - Time of Year Available: All year
Additional Notes/Prerequisites: American Medical School students only.
Anesthesia Elective
Description and Goals of Course: During this rotation, students will become important members of the Sinai Anesthesia team and will be involved in the routine preoperative, perioperative and post-operative care of anesthesia patients. The student will assist with the preoperative preparation for anesthesia patients. In addition, the student will participate in daily discussion of anesthesia care with anesthesia providers and will participate in the department's Grand Rounds. Students will learn what is required to medically clear a patient for surgery.
By the end of the rotation, students will be expected to formulate a sound perioperative anesthesia plan and demonstrate competence in the area of airway management. They will be able to describe general, regional and sedation anesthesia, as well as other key aspects of anesthesia care.
Students are expected to participate and assist in the daily tasks of the anesthesia provider and must be punctual and communicate clearly with the anesthesia staff. Students are required to communicate any specific requirements that their medical school program may have and are responsible for following the regulations set forth by their school for off campus rotations.
- Department: Anesthesia
- Title of Course: Anesthesiology Rotation
- Course Director: Jeffery Sagel, D.O.
jsagel@lifebridgehealth.org - Duration: 2-4 Weeks
- Hours of Participation: Full-time
- Number of Students: 2
- Location: Hospital of Baltimore
2401 W. Belvedere Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21215 - Time of Year Available: All year
Additional Notes/Prerequisites: Medical student year 3 or 4 with a minimum medical school cumulative grade point average of 3.0 and a USMLE Step 1 score of 210 or better or a COMLEX Level 1 score of 510 or better.
Cardiology Elective (not available to international students)
Description and Goals of Course: The elective is designed for students to develop familiarity and proficiency in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with cardiovascular disorders. Special emphasis is placed on topics in cardiology that are of particular interest to students planning careers in Internal Medicine and its subspecialties. This rotation is primarily aimed at learning the basic EKG reading and understanding the tachycardias and bradycardias.
Senior students evaluate and participate in the care of patients seen in consultation on the inpatient service at Sinai and in the outpatient clinics in Bel Air, MD and Faculty clinic in Mirowski building. Students are encouraged to attend all cardiology conferences during their rotations including the Journal Club. They will also be encouraged to attend EKG conference on Tuesdays and daily noon conferences. Specific reading materials will be recommended and provided by the Cardiology staff.
Curriculum:
The educational content is provided in the following ways:
- Student will be involved in seeing the consults specifically for electrophysiology.
- Students will be encouraged to spend some time in the electrophysiology lab to get the first-hand knowledge of arrhythmias and their definitive treatment. /p>
- Student will also gain knowledge about other cardiac disorders.
- Student will be given a pretest in electrocardiography and have a post-test after the completion of rotation to review the progress.
- Student will be asked to prepare specific talks and present to the mentoring attending.
- Review of all imaging studies related to the patient. This may include participation of radiologist, echocardiographers and interventional cardiologists or other electrophysiologists.
- In the absence of primary mentor, student will be asked to attend the faculty cardiology rounds.
Professionalism
Objective 1: Demonstrate respect and compassionate use of medical skills for cardiac patients. This includes the treatment of patients and families dealing with life-threatening illnesses.
Objective 2: Demonstrate respect and compassionate use of medical skills dealing with severely ill patients.
Objective 3: Student will have the opportunity to develop and demonstrate an increasing commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities and adherence to ethical principles. An effective therapeutic relationship with patients and families will be demonstrated through listening, narrative, and nonverbal skills as well as education and counseling of patients and families.
Interpersonal Communication Skills
Objective 1: The student will develop and demonstrate competence in effective and efficient communication with patients and their families.
Objective 2: The student will develop and demonstrate competence in effective and efficient communication with physician colleagues on Cardiology service, physicians from other services, nursing and support staff. Since Cardiology involves interactions with multiple ancillary services including social work, dietary, physical therapy, blood bank, nurse coordinators as well as Nurse Practitioners/Physician Assistants, communication is essential for the successful treatment of these patients.
- Department: Medicine
- Title of Course: Cardiology Elective
- Course Director: Mohammed Kanjwal, M.D.
- Duration: 4 Hours
- Hours of Participation: 40 Hours per Week
- Number of Students: 1
- Location: Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
2401 W. Belvedere Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21215 - Time of Year Available: All year
Additional Notes/Prerequisites: The minimum requirements for acceptance are a medical school cumulative grade point average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) and a USMLE Step 1 score of 210 or a COMLEX score of 510 and completion of the Basic Medicine Clerkship.
Emergency Department Elective
Description and Goals of Course: Sinai Hospital’s ER-7 is one of the most advanced emergency departments in the country, and it is one of the busiest in the state with over 60,000 patient visits projected. ER-7 consists of seven care centers, designed to make available special resources needed for managing patients' various conditions: trauma, emergent, urgent, chest pain, pediatric, fast track, and observation. As a Level II trauma center, Sinai Hospital receives patients with serious multi-system injuries for care.
Under the supervision of emergency physician faculty, the student will have the opportunity to evaluate and manage a wide variety of patients, adult and pediatric, in all specialized care centers. Known for its many excellent services, Sinai's ED manages many patients with complex conditions, including cardiac, respiratory, neurologic, toxicologic, infectious and traumatic. Many patients come to the emergency department for care of less serious and self-limited conditions. The educational program consists of clinical and bedside teaching, didactic (lecture), and case review conferences. This allows the student ample opportunity to have a one-on-one experience with the ED attending and other staff.
- Department: Emergency Medicine
- Title of Course: Medical Aspects of Emergency Medicine
- Course Director: Neil Roy, M.D.
- Duration: 4 Weeks
- Hours of Participation: Full-time
- Number of Students: 1
- Location: Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
2401 W. Belvedere Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21215 - Time of Year Available: All Year
Additional Notes/Prerequisites: Prerequisites include a medical school cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better, a USMLE Step 1 score of 210 or better or a COMLEX score of 510 or better, be a 4th year medical student, and completion of a Basic Medicine Clerkship.
GYN Oncology Elective
Description and Goals of Course: This sub-internship was expressly designed for the senior medical student interested in a career in Ob/Gyn. They will participate with Ob/Gyn residents on a one-on-one basis, in all clinical rounds, educational conferences, including extensive time in the operating room. This is a hands-on sub-internship with a vast array of gynecological surgical exposure.
- Department: Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Title of Course: GYN Oncology
- Course Directors: Fouad M Abbas, M.D. and Abbie Fields, M.D.
- Duration: 4 Weeks
- Hours of Participation: Full-time
- Location: Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
2401 W. Belvedere Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21215 - Time of Year Available: All year except June and July
Additional Notes/Prerequisites: Prerequisites are a current CV, medical school transcript and USMLE minimum score of 210 or COMLEX minimum score of 525 must be submitted with application materials. Please review the basic minimum criteria for medical students seeking a rotation at Sinai Hospital on the previous web page.
Pediatric Critical Care Elective
Description and Goals of Course: The student will have the opportunity to follow children with critical illness or injuries and learn the assessment of physiologic derangements, as well as, the basic principles of monitoring and therapeutics. The student rounds daily with one of the critical care attending physicians and participates in small group teaching sessions. Most of the time will be spent in the 6 bed state-of-the-art Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. There will be ample opportunity to interact with pediatric anesthesiologists, cardiologists, surgeons, surgical subspecialists, radiologists and pediatric subspecialists.
- Department: Pediatrics
- Title of Course: Pediatric Critical Care Elective
- Course Director: Scott Penfil, M.D.
- Duration: 4 Weeks
- Hours of Participation: Full-time; the student will not do overnight call. The student must plan to be fully present for the rotation.
- Number of Students: 1
- Location: Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
2401 W. Belvedere Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21215 - Time of Year Available: All Year
Additional Notes/Prerequisites: Students must be in their 4th year of medical school and have already completed a general pediatrics clerkship with a passing score on USMLE Step 1 or COMLEX 1.
Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
Description and Goals of Course: The Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology offers a one-month rotation to medical students. The Division is staffed by 5 full-time board certified pediatric hematologist/oncologists, 2 pediatric nurse practitioners, as well as, dedicated nurses with broad expertise in the range of blood and cancer disorders in children. Additionally, the Division has a dedicated child life specialist, art therapist, case manager, social worker, and a laboratory technician.
Outpatient clinic is held five days a week. In addition to the outpatient clinic, there is ample opportunity to see inpatients with teaching occurring in both settings. The Hematology and oncology clinical review conference occurs weekly and is attended by the entire clinical team; all patients seen during the week are discussed. Children, adolescents, and young adults are seen for diagnostic workups and for management of a variety of hematologic and oncologic disorders, including sickle cell anemia and other anemias, hemostatic disorders such as ITP and hemophilia, and malignant disorders such as leukemia and numerous types of solid tumors. The state-of-the-art outpatient clinic is an ideal setting for learning. A teaching microscope connected to a large screen T.V. offers the opportunity to review blood smears and bone marrow aspirations with the attending physician.
By the end of the rotation, the student is expected to be able to better evaluate the child with anemia, leukopenia, or thrombocytopenia, and learn how common malignant disorders first present to the pediatrician. The student will also learn the complications of therapy and the effects on the immune system of these diseases and their treatments. He or she should be comfortable in evaluating a peripheral blood smear for more common disorders such as iron deficiency, sickle cell disease and mononucleosis. Although this course is not meant to teach students the latest chemotherapeutic protocols or to make them an expert bone marrow morphologist, there is ample opportunity for students to pursue, in depth, any topic of interest in this specialty. The student also has the opportunity to interface with patients and their families who are dealing with chronic and sometimes fatal disorders.
- Department: Pediatrics
- Title of Course: Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
- Course Director: Yoram Unguru, M.D., M.S., M.A.
- Duration: 4 Weeks
- Hours of Participation: Full-time; no missed days allowed
- Number of Students: 1 per month
- Location: Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
2401 W. Belvedere Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21215 - Time of Year Available: Varies
Additional Notes/Prerequisites: Interested students should be in their 4th year of residency and have completed a basic pediatric clerkship with a passing score on USMLE Step 1 or COMLEX 1.
Rehabilitation Medicine Elective
Description and Goals of Course: This course offers the participant an opportunity to learn to diagnose and treat disability secondary to disease. Emphasis is on recognition of functional impairment in ambulation and self-care activities. The participant learns the roles of the physiatrist: primary physician for patients residing on the inpatient rehabilitation unit; consultant to the patient's primary physician; member of the rehabilitation team. As a member of the multidisciplinary team, he/she learns the roles and contributions of the various health professions in comprehensive patient care including physiatrists, psychologists, social workers, speech pathologists, vocational evaluators and counselors, rehabilitation nurses, and physical, occupational and recreational therapists.
Working closely with the faculty, he/she will learn functional evaluation of disability, including gait analysis, and manual muscle testing, pain management, goal setting, and rehabilitation program direction. The participant will rotate on the outpatient service, inpatient consult service and rehabilitation bed service. The rehabilitation bed service permits involvement in the progress of the patient from functional dependence to functional independence. He/she will participate in the multi-disciplinary prosthetic and orthotic clinics.
Opportunity is offered to be part of the team approach to long term care, home care programs, pediatric and geriatric programs and the special programs in cardiac rehabilitation and head trauma rehabilitation. Special instruction is provided in electromyography and other electrodiagnostic procedures. Close cooperation with other departments of hospital results in broadening the learning experience. The course offers an opportunity to participate in modern methods in delivery of health care and rehabilitation to ambulatory patients from the community, as well as inpatients.
The student may elect additional four-week periods, which will enable him/her to put into practice, in close association with the faculty, the skills acquired. The program is flexible in that emphasis may be varied in accordance with interests and career goals of the student.
- Department: Rehabilitation Medicine
- Title of Course: Rehabilitation Medicine Elective
- Course Director: Mariam Keramati, D.O.
- Duration: In periods of four weeks (student may elect one or two additional four-week periods, which may be spent in areas of special interest to them).
- Hours of Participation: Full-time
- Number of Students: 2
- Location: Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
2401 W. Belvedere Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21215 - Time of Year Available: All Year
Student Internship Elective
Description and Goals of Course: Sinai Hospital offers an outstanding Sub-Internship experience in an academically-oriented teaching hospital, with a broad-based patient population. Students function as integral members of the house staff team on one of the general medicine teams in same capacity as interns except with limited patient load. Students are expected to participate in all aspects of patient care, and are encouraged to be primarily responsible for all clinical decisions and bedside procedures. Students are given the opportunity to tailor the experience to their specific learning goals and objectives.
Sub-Interns will also participate in daily morning report, Sub-Specialty Conferences, Journal Club, and Department of Medicine Grand Rounds. Students will also be included in the many special lectures and teaching seminars specifically designed for them.
Wide range of ancillary services are available, including computer terminals at each nursing station for accessing patient data. A personal computer is available for use by students and medical house staff for literature searches. Meals when on-call, parking and on-call rooms are also provided. Night call is every fourth night.
- Department: Medicine
- Title of Course: Student Sub-Internship in Internal Medicine
- Course Director: John Cmar, M.D., FACP
- Duration: 4 Weeks
- Hours of Participation: Full-time
- Number of Students: 4
- Location: Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
2401 W. Belvedere Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21215 - Time of Year Available: All Year
Additional Notes/Prerequisites: Prerequisites include a medical school cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better, a USMLE Step 1 score of 210 or a COMLEX score of 510 and completion of a Basic Medicine Clerkship.
Surgery Elective
Description and Goals of Course: The student participating in any of the above educational rotations will be integrated into one of our surgery teams and be involved in:
- The routine pre- and post-operative care of General Surgery and Surgery specialty patients
- Assistance in operative and bedside procedures
- Trauma resuscitations and surgical consultations
The student will participate in all departmental educational activities, including:
- Morbidity and Mortality conferences
- Core Curriculum lectures
- Anatomy Lab
- Hopkins Grand Rounds
- Tumor Board. In addition, the student will receive two core lectures weekly that are specifically designed for student education.
At the end of the rotation, it is expected that the student will present a capstone patient in the Morbidity and Mortality conference.
While we generally encourage and foster active, hands-on involvement of our students, the actual level of responsibility and involvement in procedures will depend on the student’s prior level of training and ongoing knowledge/skills evaluation.
In addition to rotation on the general surgical services, students may choose to spend time in the surgical ICU for additional critical care experience.
Students are responsible to communicate any specific requirements posed by their respective medical school with the initial application and are responsible to follow the regulations by their school for off campus rotations.
- Title of Course: 1. General Surgery Core Clerkship
2. General Surgery Elective
3. General Surgery Sub-Internship - Course Director: Stephanie Taylor
sttaylor@lifebridgehealth.org - Duration: Minimum of 4 weeks up to total of 12 weeks
- Hours of Participation: Full-time
- Location: Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
2401 W. Belvedere Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21215 - Time of Year Available: All Year