Congratulations on reaching this milestone in your medical education! The third year marks the beginning of your clinical journey, where you’ll apply the knowledge gained in the classroom to real-world patient care. During this year, you’ll complete core clerkships across various specialties, participate in hands-on clinical experiences, and take the next steps toward becoming a practicing physician.<\/p>\n
This page provides key information on the structure of your third year, class-specific scheduling details, resources for navigating the clerkship lottery process, and key information about the USMLE Step 1 exam. Be sure to review these guidelines and timelines carefully to ensure a smooth transition into this critical phase of your training.<\/p>\n
Third-year medical education follows a standardized structure across U.S. medical schools. Core clerkships consist of clinical experiences and didactics. Each clerkship concludes with a Shelf exam.<\/p>\n
At our school, we use a Block calendar<\/strong> where start and end dates are the same for all students. The year is divided into rotations of 4, 6, and 8 weeks over 48 weeks<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Core Clerkships and Selectives:<\/strong><\/p>\n These are assigned by a lottery system and include:<\/p>\n Block Numbers and Durations:<\/strong><\/p>\n Click the appropriate link below to find specific instructions on the Third Year lottery process, as well as links and resources specific to your class:<\/p>\n Class of 2028 Third Year Clerkship Scheduling Information<\/a><\/p>\n Class of 2027 Third Year Clerkship Scheduling Information<\/a><\/p>\n All students must sit for the USMLE Step 1 exam before the start of their third year. While a score is not required to begin clerkships, students who do not pass on their first attempt will either need to step out of their first rotation, or drop their second rotation to retake the exam.<\/p>\n How to Apply and Schedule the Step 1 Exam<\/a><\/p>\n Information About Delaying Clerkships<\/a><\/p>\n Third Year Selective Descriptions<\/a><\/p>\n Third Year Personal Days & Time Off Policy<\/a><\/p>\n A student requesting a change to their scheduled clerkship site assignment must submit a Third Year Schedule Change Request Form<\/a> to the Registrar at least 30 days prior to the scheduled start-date, or at least 75 days prior to the start-date when changing to\/from a VA site.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Registrar will work with the clerkship team to understand which alternate assignments may be available. If a schedule change is possible, and agreed upon by the student, the Registrar will implement schedule changes and make necessary notifications.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When site changes are\u00a0required\u00a0as part of approved accommodations through Disability & Access Services, students should include their\u00a0accommodations\u00a0letter as part of the request.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Please\u00a0note,\u00a0all changes are subject to availability<\/strong>. This process is related to enrollment sites, which may be hospital-specific, or may relate to a group of sites (for example, Greater Boston Private Practice). Specific schedule is managed within clerkships. Changes to shift schedule must be referred to the <\/span>Clerkship Coordinators<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Congratulations on reaching this milestone in your medical education! The third year marks the beginning of your clinical journey, where you’ll apply the knowledge gained in the classroom to real-world patient care. During this year, you’ll complete core clerkships across various specialties, participate in hands-on clinical experiences, and take the next steps toward becoming a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":909,"featured_media":0,"parent":124582,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"bu-publication":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54898"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/909"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54898"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":146038,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54898\/revisions\/146038"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/124582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=54898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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USMLE Step 1 Exam<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Resources<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Requesting Third Year Schedule Changes<\/strong><\/h5>\n