If you’re a medical student, the school you’re attending probably requires some form of clinical training to graduate. At some schools, students can begin this training as early as their second year. For others, real-world medical training may not be available until their fourth and fifth years.
Some medical schools offer this training directly; they have connections with physicians, hospitals, and clinics who provide hands-on training to students. Other schools may allow their students to get school credit for rotations abroad or those obtained elsewhere. In this instance, students may turn to a clinical experience provider like AMOpportunities to secure core and elective rotations with ease.
Students frequently ask if they can get school credit for rotations with AMO. In most cases, obtaining credit is possible, requiring students to work proactively with an AMO Advisor. To find a clinical experience you can use for school credit, follow the steps outlined below.
1. Create an AMO User Account
To view the more than 250 clinical experience options we offer, you’ll need to create an AMO account. Creating an account is free and takes just a few moments. With this account, you’ll be able to search our experiences, submit applications, and access various resources to help you plan for your clinical experience and even the rest of your medical education!
2. Obtain Requirements from Your School
To obtain clinical training credit from an entity outside your school, what is required? Is there a form that must be filled out? Are there requirements that must be met? Ask a representative from your school about this as soon as possible. Being proactive with this can help you and our team narrow down clinical experience options. We will eliminate those that don’t fit school requirements and move forward in the planning process with experiences that do.
3. Compare Requirements with AMO Rotations
Use our search platform to find a clinical experience that meets your interests, availability, and school requirements. Our search platform is organized so that you can sort experiences by specialty, location, program type, and other features. If you don’t find an experience that fits your needs, an AMO Advisor may be able to provide some recommendations.
In addition to in-person experiences, we offer many virtual rotations which allow you to rotate from home. We also offer flexible virtual rotations, which empower you to complete clinical training without taking a break from school. Many medical schools now accept virtual rotation for school credit. If this type of experience is something you are interested in, check if this experience type can be accepted for credit.
Once you find one you think will work, you must submit an application to be considered. When you submit your application, you’ll be asked to put in your preferred rotation type and month. If you’re struggling to decide between multiple rotations, you can submit up to five applications for rotation taking place in the same month.
Explore Clinical Experiences >
4. Discuss Options with an AMO Advisor
Whether you find an experience on your own or with the assistance of an AMO Advisor, you should double-check that you can get school credit for the rotation selected. Our Advisors can help with this by looking over the school curriculum requirements you provided.
If your school requires the preceptor or clinical experience host to fill out a form for you to receive credit, our Advisors will speak to the preceptor on your behalf. To make this request, you must submit a deposit for the rotation. Should the preceptor agree to fill out the school-required documents, your deposit will automatically go towards your reservation, and you will be locked into the experience.
If the physician cannot fill out the form, you have two options. We can return the deposit or you may it to another experience, at which point we will follow the same request process for the program.
5. Reserve Your Experience
If your experience doesn’t require your preceptor to complete a form, you will have to reserve your experience manually. Once your application is accepted, you can reserve your seat by submitting a reservation fee. You must do this as soon as possible so another student interested in the same experience cannot fill it. Losing your seat could mean missing out on opportunities that meet your school requirements and could negatively impact your education.
Once you reserve your experience, we’ll match you with a personal AMO Coach. This individual will help you to enroll for the experience. They’ll also provide orientation and offer suggestions on planning additional aspects of your experience like housing, airfare, and insurance.
Have questions about our experiences or the process outlined above?
Email advisors@amopportunities.org or schedule a call for further assistance.
