Medical Students

Congratulations! You've made a good choice by deciding to consider elective opportunities in Grand Rapids!

We offer:

  • Over 1,000 Clinical faculty with the majority board certified
  • Community Based Medicine
  • Hands-on Learning
  • Large, Diverse Patient Base
  • Special Emphasis on Primary Care
  • Clinical Research Opportunities
  • All this and more, and only 40 miles from the Lake Michigan shoreline!

About the Grand Rapids Campus

  • We are the largest clinical campus of the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (MSU-CHM) with academic directors in all major disciplines, as well as over 1,000 voluntary teaching faculty, whom are board certified in their specialty and subspecialty areas. Many of the faculty have additional responsibilities with residency training programs.
  • Administered by the Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners, we offer elective clerkships in more than 50 specialty and subspecialty areas, including over 30 in Primary Care Programs. Approximately 140 third- and fourth-year students from MSU and another 80 visiting students from other medical colleges are accommodated annually.
  • Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners is an education consortium of area hospitals and MSU-CHM. It is Michigan's second largest graduate medical education center. We have over 280 residents from more than 40 U.S. Medical Schools training in a number of residency and fellowship programs. These programs include Colon/Rectal Surgery, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, General Surgery, Geriatrics, Hospice & Palliative Medicine, Internal Medicine, Med Peds, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Orthopedic Surgery, Pediatrics, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Plastic Surgery, Radiology, Surgical Critical Care, Transitional Year, and Vascular Surgery. This provides a breadth and depth to our undergraduate programs unequaled in most community-based settings.
  • Our Visiting Student Program offers students the opportunity to receive one-on-one supervision or team-based learning all while working in clinical medicine. We offer a wide variety of elective rotations (specific descriptions available upon request). In addition, students may explore potential career specialties and post-graduate training in Grand Rapids. All of our resident programs are affiliated with Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.
  • The Visiting Student Program welcomes students from member institutions of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) and other LCME accredited medical schools. The Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners coordinates all medical student education for the area.
  • Facilities used in the Grand Rapids medical education programs include Spectrum Health, which includes the Blodgett and Butterworth Campuses and Saint Mary's Health Care. Additional institutions where students receive educational opportunities include: Holland Community Hospital, Kent Oaks Psychiatric Hospital, Ken-O-Sha Pediatric Diagnostic Center, Mary Free Bed Physician Medicine and Rehabilitation Center, Metropolitan Hospital, and Pine Rest Christian Mental Hospital.

Application Process

To Schedule a Rotation

  1. Completed applications are due to the Office of Student and Academic Services 90 days prior to the start of the requested rotation. They may be sent via our form or VSAS.
  2. Submit an application provided by Kimberly Longstreet from the GME office. Requests are honored on a first-come, first-served basis, and there may be restrictions in place. You may also download an application directly from the web site.
  3. Submit a letter from your school verifying you are a student in good academic standing and covered by malpractice insurance. Requests will not be confirmed until the application and home school letter are received by the Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners. Once the rotation is approved, a letter of confirmation will be sent to the student. Also upon approval of the rotation, ALL STUDENTS WILL BE ASKED TO COMPLETE A MANDATORY DRUG TEST. Information/materials to complete the drug test will be provided to the student in their confirmation packet.
  4. Before beginning the rotation, you must provide documentation of personal health insurance and immunization/immunity of the following diseases: Chicken Pox, Rubella, Mumps, Polio, Tetanus/Diphtheria, Tuberculosis, and Hepatitis B.  Please submit the records with your application.
  5. Applicants must also send a nonrefundable $150 application fee with the visiting student application materials. Credit cards (AmEx, Visa, MC), money orders, cashier’s or business checks will be accepted, no personal checks or cash. Download the fee invoice.
  6. Applicants must have successfully completed the basic required clerkship in the discipline of their requested rotation. Applicants should have attained senior status prior to elective. Third-year medical students may apply if prerequisites are completed, but preference will be given to senior applicants.
  7. All programs require a minimum score of 210 on USMLE Step 1 or 500 on Complex Part 1.

Additional Information

  • Clinical elective rotations for credit are offered in the traditional 4-week format. The beginning and ending dates follow the MSU academic schedule:

      7/2-7/27/12 
      7/30-8/24/12 
      8/27-9/21/12 
      9/24-10/19/12 
      10/22-11/16/12 
      11/19-12/14/12 
      1/7-2/1/13 
      2/4-3/1/13
      3/4-3/29/13 
      4/1-4/26/13
      4/29-5/24/13

  • Students are responsible for making their own lodging arrangements. Housing, travel costs and local transportation are the student's responsibility. Free parking is provided to the student by the hospital to which they are assigned.
  • Student evaluation is an on-going process, with a cumulative written evaluation completed at the end of the rotation by the physician(s) with whom the student worked. Students should forward a blank copy of their school's evaluation form to Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners before beginning the rotation.
  • Working shifts vary tremendously across rotations and preceptors. All call is taken with an intern or resident.
  • Students are required to wear short, white lab coats. Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners and hospital identification badges will be issued at the start of the rotation. Some hospitals require a $10.00 deposit that is refunded when the I.D. badge is returned.
  • Please understand that acceptance for an elective rotation does not guarantee a residency interview in that specialty. Time away from a rotation to interview outside the Grand Rapids area is not permitted.
  • All visiting students are required to attend a brief orientation the first morning of their rotation. Some rotations also have specific orientations (please see specific course descriptions).
  • Any schedule changes must be requested 60 days prior to the rotation.
  • Students who must cancel a scheduled rotation should contact Kimberly Longstreet at Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners as soon as possible so the rotation may be offered to another student. Students should not contact preceptors independently.

Contact Kimberly Longstreet
1000 Monroe Ave. NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Phone: (616)732-6273
Email: SchedulingManager@grmep.org