Hospital Selection

Unfortunately, the hospital selection and placement process is a big secret until you get to St. Vincent. The reason for this is because the school does not want to worry you about not knowing much until the last minute, which is what you will do anyway.

Hospital Preference Forms in St. Vincent

During the second month of your sojourn in St. Vincent, information will be emailed to your student about how many spots in what hospitals are available for your term, and included in the email will be a selection form for choosing your preferences for hospital placements. The hospital placements change every term. All hospitals are not available every term. For instance, generally, Maryland hospitals are only available to January start students, and Michigan hospitals are generally only available to August start students. So don't set your heart on a city or hospital before you get to St. Vincent and see your choices.

Details About Choosing Hospitals

Normally, Medicine or Surgery rotations are started first. Then other core rotations can be completed. This is not always the case, but a general rule. If a hospital only provides Psychiatry rotations (like Manhattan Psych Center, or Spring Grove Hospital in Maryland) you will not be able to start there. UK placements are also available every term. If you want to start in the UK, you will need to do either a Medicine or Surgery rotation there first. Consider this wisely, as where you do important core rotations may affect residency placements. After third year core rotations are completed, then you work on fourth year elective rotations, which are somewhat flexible and vary according to your student's interests. When you fill out your placement form, you are choosing what hospital you will start at.

Many students with SO's choose "Clinical Centers". These are hospitals that offer all or almost all of the core clinical rotations your student will have to take during their third year. The advantage to this is not having to move around. SO's who want a steady job, or have kids in school, may be persuaded to choose a clinical center. (If you have a reason for choosing a clinical center, make sure you state that in your preference form). After your student completes core rotations, they can then go on to do elective rotations in the same hospital, or at a different hospital. You can even attend an unaffiliated hospital for a certain amount of time. This may be helpful if your student wants a particular place for their residency. Sometimes, students do an elective rotation (not recommended for what they want to specialize in) at the hospital they would like a residency. This looks good on a residency application and your student might get to know the right people, since like life, it's "all about who you know". Be cautious about this, and check state requirements since some states don't allow physicians to practice there without having done all their rotations in a hospital affiliated with their own medical school. Every state has a different rule about this, so stay up to date on this issue if you really have your heart set on living somewhere permanently.

How to Choose a Hospital - Information Sources

Make sure that when you are choosing a hospital, you come into DES on the KMC campus to browse the clinical binders they have full of surveys and helpful info from students currently in those hospitals. This information is INVALUABLE. Not only can you get an idea of what the hospital is like, the administration, and the attendings, but also the area, housing, transportation, what neighborhoods to live in, what areas to stay away from, where NOT to take children, etc. You can also contact the students who filled out their clinical placement survey using email addresses they write on the surveys. This way you can ask more specific questions and possibly get help with housing. Of course, don't forget to use the SO Contact List either, for help from other SO's.

Although all affiliated hospitals provide adequate training for your student to become a doctor, there ARE differences in quality of training, what patients will allow you to do, and how much "hands-on" you will get. Reading just a few student surveys will give you an idea of what kind of hospital it is.

Unless you like to live by the seat of your pants, get informed and be prepared for what to expect during your clinical years. SGU provides even less information to their clinical students than they do to Grenada students, (if that is possible) so if you're not on the ball, you might miss some important planning and regret it later.

Three Hospital Choices and Why You Chose #1

When you make your clinical placement decision, you will be able to choose three hospitals in order of preference, and turn the paper form into a representative at the the school. There will also be an area on the paper to write in any reasons, comments, or extenuating circumstances that made you and your student choose this hospital. In this area, your student is STRONGLY encouraged to mention you, the SO, job opportunities available to you, any children you may have, housing lined up in that area, etc. When there are more students wanting a particular hospital than hospital placements available, the school does read these and consider them carefully. Generally, those who read the forms, try to accomodate SO's and SO kids when possible. But don't count on it.

Turning in Your Placement Preferences

Do not put a name of a hospital you do not want to go to on your placement preference form. Some people put their top two choices and then as a third choice, they put a hospital they don't really want to go to. If that hospital is unpopular and Bayshore has trouble placing students there, you may automatically get placed in that hospital because it was on your list.

After you make your choices, fill out your form, and turn it in, you will have to wait.... Depending on how Bayshore feels that month, you may wait 6 - 10 weeks for your results. This time is grueling for those of us anxious to start looking for housing and jobs online, but when you finally receive your temporary placement - whether you got what you wanted or not - there is a sense of closure, and you are able to look forward to the next adventure. I cannot stress enough not to set your heart on one particular hospital, because only approximately 85% get one of their three choices- that means even fewer get their top choice.

Receiving Temporary Hospital Placements

Hospital placements will be posted outside the lecture hall when they are ready. These are called temporary placements. That means that "for now" this is where you are scheduled to go. This could change. Bayshore says about 98% of temporary placements become permanent. What makes them temporary is when you or other students fail USMLE Step 1, if a hospital is dropped or added, or if anyone decides to appeal their temporary placement. At the last minute, things can be changed around, and some people may get re-placed somewhere else, when permanent placements are handed out. This can be a dilemma for SO's who want to secure housing and jobs long before 2 weeks before clinicals start. This is a personal choice. You may be taking a chance, but most SO's go ahead and get their apartments and jobs way ahead of clinical start dates.

Permanent Placements

Permanent placements are sent to students after a few things happen. USMLE Step 1 is taken in June or July for August start students, or taken between February and May for January start students. After Step 1 is taken, you have to wait approximately 6 weeks for results to be sent back to students. When you receive these results, you will fax them immediately to Bayshore. Bayshore will then acknowledge the receipt and send you a permanent placement. For this reason, it is strongly recommended that students take Step 1 as soon as they feel comfortable. Not only will you get your permanent placements earlier, but you may also be less likely to get moved from your temporary placement to another hospital.

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