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Special elective forms are due to the Chief Residents at least 1 month in advance of the start date of your rotation.

NOTE: ALL PGY2 and PGY3 residents are expected to attend morning report at either PHHS or the VA while on Special Elective

The purpose of the special elective block is to provide you time to delve more deeply into a particular area of medicine. You may use this time to engage in research or to work with a specific clinical service. Please note that this rotation, like all of the other rotations, is part of your job for which you are being paid. Accordingly, your hereabouts must be verifiable and you must be evaluated by a faculty member at the end of your 4-week block. It is in each resident's best interest and the best interest of the program as a whole that we are honest with Parkland about where our salaries are going during this period. We have established a few guidelines to avoid problems.

The following guidelines must be met before you will be allowed to start your elective block. If you fail to meet these guidelines, then you will be assigned to a clinical rotation at the discretion of the Chief Residents. A list of both clinical and research contacts used in the past is included in the appendix. You may use this index to better plan your elective. Also, please feel free to discuss your ideas with one of the Chief Residents.

Special Elective Guidelines

1. Choose a research project or a clinical rotation that will use the entire 4-week block.
   1. You may not divide your elective into a hodgepodge of clinical activities. You may use 2 weeks for one experience and 2 weeks for another experience, but you may not divide the block any further.
   2. If you choose to use two 2-week blocks, then your block cannot include vacation.
   3. Identify a mentor who will direct your research or who will attend on your clinical rotation. This person will be contacted to complete your evaluation at the end of the block.
2. Residents must provide a written paragraph to Dr. Croft describing their anticipated research activities during the elective at least one month in advance, and signed by the research mentor.
3. Allowable projects for a research elective include
   1. Original research study
   2. Chart review/database study
   3. Manuscript completion
   4. Review article
   5. Book chapter
   6. Any other reasonable projects will be considered, but must be approved by the Program Director
4. You must have an approved plan at least 30 days prior to the start of your elective block.
   1. If an appropriate project is not identified and approved in advance of the rotation, the resident will be assigned an ambulatory rotation for the month.
5. Explicitly state the location (PHHS, UHSP, VA, or other). Keep in mind you will not be paid if your elective is outside of the UTSW campus.
6. If you choose to use your time for research, your elective proposal must include the method of reporting your experience. In other words, at the end of the block, you will submit a summary of your findings, an abstract, a grant proposal, a protocol for a verbal presentation, etc.
   1. You will be asked to present a 5-10 minute summary of your findings during Resident Update Conference.
   2. For a full list of clinical and research elective coordinating preceptors, see below.

Special Elective Request Form
Sample Resident Update presentation

Recommendations to maximize research elective experience:

1. Seek out research mentors several months in advance.
   • This will allow the resident to evaluate several potential mentors and projects. More importantly, it will ensure adequate time for preparation. Waiting until the last minute to find a mentor/project greatly diminishes the probability of successful experience. The Chief Residents can guide you in finding mentors.
2. Find a meaningful project.
   • Original research projects are preferred, although there are many types of valuable experiences. Simple case reports are not a good use of a research elective.
3. Prepare, prepare, prepare
   • Read and become an expert on the topic, prepare an IRB, design the research plan. As one month is a very short time to make progress on a research project, these activities should be done in advance so that you can delve into the actual research work on the first day.
4. Finish what you start
   • It is far better to never engage in a project than to commit to doing one and not following through. You don’t want to waste a faculty member’s time or take a project that could have been completed by another trainee.