How to Set Up a Fourth-Year GH Elective

What is the Global Health Elective at the School of Medicine?
The global health (GH) elective is for fourth-year medical students interested in undertaking a minimum of four weeks of clinical or research work abroad for credit. The elective exposes students to diseases, treatments, medical systems, and patient populations in other parts of the world with an emphasis on low-resource settings. Students must be conversant with the language spoken in the host country unless there is a provision for interpreters or the elective is dedicated to language acquisition.

Questions may be directed to Ana Gregory.

Step 1: Complete “Part 1: The Big Picture” & Read Global Health Equity Article

1/7/2025: The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Health course is currently OFFLINE, so this requirement is temporarily suspended.

Each medical student is required to complete “Part 1: The Big Picture,” the first part of the 3-part course Practitioner’s Guide to Global Health. This course prepares students and trainees to safely and effectively participate in global health learning experiences. In Part 1 you will learn how to determine what type of global health learning experience is right for you and how to set it up. The course is free-of-charge and generates a Credly badge upon successful completion. Save your proof of completion; you are required to submit it to apply for the Global Health Summer Scholarship or to have a fourth-year global health elective approved.

Read the following article. “This article offers 10 guiding questions that learners should answer before selecting or codesigning a global health opportunity through a lens of global health equity.” Ten Questions to Guide Learners Seeking Equitable Global Health Experiences Abroad.

Step 2: Identify Elective Site

The School of Medicine has a few established affiliations (“inside electives”), but students may choose other elective sites (“outside electives”) with approval from Dr. Leanza, Director of Global Health Programs (see step #2 below).

Thus, students may choose:

Inside B.U. Electives (approved/established relationship) OR
Outside Electives

Students may start setting up GH electives after the annual third-year class meeting “Developing a Fourth-Year Schedule.” Following the publication of fourth-year schedules of required rotations, the exact dates for GH electives may be arranged.

Students may add GH electives to their fourth-year schedules no later than 6 weeks before the start date of the elective, the minimum time required to complete mandatory responsibilities before departure.

Restrictions: Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine GH Program will not give academic credit for, pay for, supervise, direct, or otherwise support a medical student in a country where a U.S. State Department Travel Warning is in effect. See Travel Warning Policy.

Step 3: Contact the Elective Site and Confirm

Contact the elective site about your elective. Discuss the following:

Dates of your elective
Your responsibilities as a member of the team
Language requirements (students must be conversant with the language of the host country unless there is a provision for translators)
Goals and learning objectives of the elective

Some elective sites require a letter of good standing from the student’s medical school in order to accept the student for an elective. This may be obtained from the medical school Registrar. See Request for Verification of Student Status.

Step 4: Send Your ADD Form to Ana Gregory Electronically

Download and complete the ADD Form for GH Elective. Send the document electronically to Ana Gregory. The ADD form must be completed entirely or it will not be accepted by the registrar.

Do not submit a blank ADD Form with “Global Health Elective” indicated (and no evaluator information). If you do not have all the information for the ADD Form, you may indicate “Global Health Elective” on the schedule that your advisor will sign. Paper add forms provided by the registrar for other BU electives are not accepted by the Global Health Program.

Once the ADD form is received and approved by Ana Gregory (and you have submitted the liability form – step #5), it is sent to the registrar who will add the elective to your fourth-year schedule.

Step 5: Submit the Waiver of Liability Form (online)

In order for your elective to receive final approval, you must complete the waiver of liability form. You will receive a confirmation after completion.

Step 6: Request E-mail of Acceptance (for New Outside Electives)

If you plan to undertake an outside elective that has not been undertaken by a medical student in the past (see Outside Electives for explanation), an e-mail of acceptance from the host institution/mentor is required. This e-mail must be sent to Ana Gregory and include:

Title of elective
Exact dates of elective
Complete address/contact information of sponsoring institution and mentor*
Whether or not the site regularly hosts students

* be sure to obtain full contact information for the physician who will be supervising and evaluating you.