Elective Catalog and Course Information
About Electives
The Texas A&M School of Medicine fourth-year electives have been developed to accommodate the diverse educational needs of our students. The electives provide students the opportunity to further develop their medical knowledge, skills and attitudes.
In addition to the electives that have been developed by the departments, students may develop student initiated electives. Student initiated electives allow students in good standing great latitude in designing unique elective experiences.
The elective program for each student will be the responsibility of the student, the student's adviser and the senior associate dean for student affairs. The choice of elective rotations should be guided by the student's career goal and the rotations suggested for that career goal.
Most of the School of Medicine electives and student initiated electives are also available to fourth-year students from other medical colleges accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education or the American Osteopathic Association.
Note: Some electives at affiliated institutions, which are arranged through the Office of the Senior Associate Dean for Student Affairs, are available only to Texas A&M School of Medicine students as indicated in the prerequisite section of the elective description. Outside students wishing to take these electives should contact the elective administrator directly.
The Office of Student Affairs coordinates scheduling of the Phase IV/4th Year Curriculum for all School of Medicine students. The Office of Academic Affairs coordinates academic oversight and evaluation of all Phase IV/4th Year curriculum components.
Information for Students
Student Evaluation Forms
- Clinical evaluation forms for student initiated electives will be sent via Blue
International Travel
*Note: Be sure to check the website for updated information. All forms with * should be submitted to Student Affairs.
Electives Guidelines
There are 25 available elective weeks in years 2 and 3
- 4 weeks each after Surgery, IMED, USMLE = 12 weeks
- 13 weeks during Career Exploration (Not counting Spring Break)
- Clinical electives taken before the completion of clerkships can be retaken as an M4
Students must take at least 19 weeks of electives in years 2 and 3 + 2 weeks of radiology
- Up to 4 of the 25 available weeks may be taken as vacation.
- At least 10 of these 19 weeks must be in courses with clinical contact.
There are 32 weeks of curriculum in year 4.
- 14 weeks requireds - ER, AI, ICU, Capstone
- 12 weeks selectives
- 6 weeks other electives
All students must complete 32 weeks of fourth-year electives to graduate
- If the 4 week required ER rotation is taken in year 3, it will count for the 4 weeks of required ER in year 4. In this case, the student will need 4 additional weeks of any type of electives to keep the year 4 total of 32 weeks.
- The required ICU and AI must be taken after all clerkships are completed to count for the 4th year requirement.
- No more than 16 weeks of the required 32 weeks of courses may be taken during year 4 in one's chosen main specialty. .
- Courses taken in years 2 and 3 will not count towards 12 weeks of required M4 selectives, nor will they count against the 16 weeks maximum in specialty.
- No more than 16 weeks of year 4 can be done at a non-A&M institution.
At least 10 weeks of one's final semester of year 4 must be taken in classes that have clinical contact. (Capstone is not considered as part of these 10 weeks.)
Rare exceptions may be made with approval of Student or Academic Affairs, for example, if a student changes specialties mid-stream.