Fourth Year Clinical or Research Elective Application Instructions
- Review the WCM Stories from the Field and the (https://wcmglobalhealthprojectdatabase.weebly.com/) to learn about opportunities abroad and to explore the global health projects previously undertaken by other students. Projects are sorted by topic and geographic area.
- Students seeking to take an international elective in the 4th year should create time in their 4th year schedule. Some electives are 4-weeks in duration while others are 6-week or 8-week in duration. Please check your schedule to see how many weeks you have available for this experience.
- During the Spring term of the 3rd year, students should begin to think about where they would like to go and what type of elective they are interested in. Students should meet with members of the global health faculty or individually with Dr. Madelon Finkel (maf2011@med.cornell.edu), Director of the Office of Global Health Education, to arrange a meeting to discuss options and opportunities.
- Students may choose from established electives with our partners around the world or design their own elective. Regardless, every student must identify a WCM mentor who will be responsible for signing off on the international elective. Those who take an elective at one of the partner sites do not need to obtain an email from the host mentor. Those who create their own elective must have the host mentor send an email stating that he/she agrees to serve as mentor during your time at the host institution.
- Some of the 4th year electives have limitations in the number of students who can take the elective. Please see the listing of program capacity, which delineates the number of students who will be permitted to take the specific elective.
oghe_partnership_capacity.pdf - Applications will be accepted beginning in April of the 3rd year. Please discuss your options with Dr. Finkel prior to submitting an application. Electives are assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis. We try very hard to make sure that every student gets to take an elective in a country of their choosing. Very rarely is a student not able to get their first or second choice of elective.
- Once the WCM global health mentor agrees to sign off on the elective, students should complete the International Fellowship Application here.
- Email your completed application to Maritza Montalvo (mmontalv@med.cornell.edu). Feel free to contact this address directly with questions concerning the application process.
- After your application has been approved (you will be notified via email), please complete the International Elective Application Form (the “pink” form) which you can get from the Registrar’s office or download it here: International Elective Form (for Registrar).pdf and circulate it for signatures—both your advisor and Dr. Finkel will sign this form, and then submit it to the Registrar’s office.
- Please sign all required forms that will be sent to you upon approval. These must be returned to Maritza Montalvo prior to departure.
Please note: All students who take a 4th year elective abroad are required to prepare a poster for display at the Spring International Fellows Reception held in May. This event is designed to thank our generous donors as well as to honor the students who took an international elective.
Poster Guidelines:
guidelines_for_international_reception_poster.pdf
Click here for a poster template.