Overview

Elective time is your opportunity in residency to further explore a field of your interest and for personal development. You may choose to use this time to delve more deeply into research and scholarly activity on a topic of your choosing. You may also choose to expand your clinical exposure to a subspecialty field or pursue another clinical elective such as procedural time or ultrasound. Please note that this rotation, like all of the other rotations, is part of your professional training. For bookkeeping purposes and to ensure that you are paid for your time, your whereabouts must be verifiable, and you must be evaluated by a faculty member at the end of your rotation. We have established a few guidelines to avoid any problems.

Elective Etiquette

• Attendance at morning report and noon conferences is required while on elective 
  • Residents may attend morning report at either Parkland, CUH, VA or virtually depending on their preference 
• You may be expected to participate in scholarly activities such as Resident Update Talks
• If you anticipate using this time to attend national meetings, conferences, or perform other scholarly work please indicate this in the elective form
• Special EPIC access can be requested through one of the Chiefs- for those looking to get inside EPIC and do fancy things.
• The Chief Residents can help you in choosing an elective and with networking to find a mentor, but you are primarily responsible for designing your elective

Elective Guidelines

Choose a research project or a clinical rotation that will use the entire elective block.

• If you wish to divide the elective into clinical and research time, we recommend splitting the block into 2 divided blocks of 1-2 weeks each. Other requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Do keep in mind that most scholarly activity requires a minimum of 2 weeks and more often 4 weeks to make any real headway. You may wish to discuss how best to make use of elective time with your mentor if you are already working with one.
• Identify a mentor who will direct your scholarly activity. This person will be contacted to complete your evaluation at the end of the block.
• If you choose to use your time for research, your elective proposal must include the method of reporting your experience.
• Examples of projects may include:
  
  1. Original research study
  2. Chart review/database study
  3. Manuscript completion
  4. Review article
  5. Book chapter
  6. Curriculum development 
  7. Discovery Consult Service
  8. Any other reasonable projects will be considered but must be approved by the program. If you have questions about how to use your elective time or about your project, please contact the chiefs for assistance.
• If you will need to complete IRB credentialing prior to working on your project, please follow these steps to complete IRB credentialing. Your research mentor can help clarify whether you need added to an IRB before working on your project. The IRB credentialing process can take a few weeks which can cause delays in you starting your project during your valuable elective time if it has not been done in advance. It is best to complete these steps a few weeks in advance of your research elective to ensure that your time during your elective can be used on your project. 
  1. Submit the e-research access request with UTSW using the linkhttps://ais.swmed.edu/redcap/surveys/?s=UH6mer. On the system access requested, check “eIRB”. 
  2. IRB Online Orientation – complete the CITI modules for HIPAA, Human Subject Protection and Good Clinical Practice.https://www.utsouthwestern.edu/research/hrpp/training/
  3. IRB introduction- please go into TALEO to register for the “Introduction to the IRB” online course. This is not mandatory but highly suggested if you will be accessing and using the IRB.
• Examples of clinical electives may include:
  • Procedure Elective
  • Ultrasound Elective
  • Specific Subspecialty Elective time
• Med/Peds Residents: submit elective form request through pediatrics. Annual request form fill out for each standard Pediatric elective or IM hybrid block in the upcoming year to ensure a slot in that experience, fill out LGO / custom form for completely custom electives including IM electives. Reach out to Dr. Walsh with questions.

Please follow the instructions below to report your plans for your elective. This is due 10 days prior to the start of your elective. Failure to complete the form may lead to an inability to fulfill your request.

If you are unable to locate your attending/supervisor on MedHub, please reach out to  to add your supervisor into MedHub.

MED. PEDS Residents: Please note that all elective requests will be submitted through Pediatrics, including IM electives. 

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