October 11, 2019 - AFMC Office closed October 14
The AFMC office will be closed on October 14 for Thanksgiving Day. Any messages (or emails or requests for support) sent to the Help Desk on that day will be addressed on Tuesday October 15.
September 27, 2019 - New Feature: Quick and Secure Password Reset
At least 50% of the Portal Help Desk tickets are related to password resets and on an average, each password change is time consuming, both for students and the Help Desk. AFMC is constantly working to enhance your support experience with the AFMC Student Portal, as such, we have implemented a new password reset and recovery process that will enhance your productivity while securely maintaining personal information. Good news: Now you don’t have to scratch your heads trying to remember the security question you created at time of registration! See the new process.
5 Easy Steps to Reset your Password on the AFMC Student Portal
Note that after 5 failed attempts to answer security question, your account will be locked. If that happens to you, do not hesitate to contact the Portal Help Desk at service@afmcstudentportal.ca. We are here to assist you!
September 26, 2019 - Scheduled Maintenance
The AFMC Student Portal will be offline from September 26 at 11 p.m. (ET) to September 27 at 2 a.m. (ET) due to a scheduled maintenance. If you have any questions, please contact the Help Desk at service@afmcstudentportal.ca.
We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.
September 16, 2019 - RESOLVED - Intermittent Technical Issues
The intermittent technical issue affecting the Portal website has been resolved since 1:30 p.m. (Eastern Time) on September 16, 2019. If you have any questions, please contact the Help Desk at service@afmcstudentportal.ca.
We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.
September 16, 2019 - Intermittent Technical Issues with the Portal
We would like to inform you that we are experiencing intermittent technical issues with the AFMC Student Portal. We are actively working to resolve the issue as soon as possible. If you are encountering any difficulties, please contact the Help Desk at service@afmcstudentportal.ca. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.
September 9, 2019 - University of Toronto School Application Fees Reduced
The University of Toronto is pleased to inform students of up coming changes to the visiting electives fees and application process. Effective September 29th, the application fees will be reduced to 200$ per application regardless of duration. Students will be allowed one elective per application, with the option to list up to six additional choices.
Further details and information on the process will be available in the school's institution profile on the Portal on September 14th, 2019. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we undergo this process change.
August 16, 2019 - Students can free up spots and help reduce wait times
The AFMC Working Group on Application Fees and Refunds has been investigating the impact of students applying for concurrent dates and would like to raise student awareness and encourage best practice.
It is common for students to apply three times for visiting electives on the same or overlapping dates. This can mean that host schools are simultaneously completing three unique searches. While students can’t hold more than one confirmed elective at a time, they can leave requests for concurrent weeks pending after accepting an elective. As a result, this can inflate the queue for other students interested in the same weeks. This practice can inadvertently lead to students spending more on visiting elective applications.
The working group encourages students to cancel open applications for concurrent dates in a timely manner if they receive and accept an elective placement, particularly if you have already received the elective of your choice.
August 16, 2019 - AFMC Office closed September 2
Our office will be closed on September 2 for Labor Day. Any tickets sent to the Portal Help Desk on that day will be addressed on Tuesday, September 3.
July 29, 2019 - AFMC Office closed August 5
Our office will be closed on August 5 for Civic Day. Any tickets sent to the Portal Help Desk on that day will be addressed on Tuesday, August 6.
July 10, 2019 - The technical Issue with our Help Desk is now resolved
The technical issue affecting the service.afmcstudentportal.ca website has been resolved since 6 p.m. (Eastern Time) on July 9, 2019. All emails sent to the Help Desk during the issue have been addressed. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.
July 9, 2019 - Technical Issues with our Help Desk
We are currently experiencing technical issues with our Help Desk service. This will affect users that are trying to access the website service.afmcstudentportal.ca. All emails sent to our Help Desk team will be addressed as soon as the issue is resolved. Thank you for your patience and we apologize for any inconvience caused.
June 28, 2019 - AFMC Office closed July 2
Our office will be closed on July 1 for Canada day. Any tickets sent to the Portal Help Desk on that day will be addressed on Tuesday, July 2.
June 06, 2019 - Communiqué - AFMC Student Portal Technical Issue
The AFMC Student Portal experienced serious technical difficulties with its server between 7:50 am EST on Easter Monday April 22 and 8:50 am EST on Tuesday April 23. New applications were not accepted, email notifications were not sent and users were unable to upload documents to existing applications during this specific time. AFMC resolved the technical issue and communicated all who had contacted the Portal help desk. AFMC has identified the 168 student applications that have been affected. A total of 73 applications were delayed in processing by more than a week due to email notifications not being sent to Placement Contacts. AFMC will refund the faculties’ elective application fees for these 73 applications even if the student secured an elective at the school of choice, found another visiting elective or cancelled the application.
AFMC would like to thank the Elective Coordinators who alerted us to the issue and worked quickly to manage this situation and minimize impact to students.
Please email service@afmcstudentportal.ca if you any questions or concerns.
Questions and Answers
Q. How does the visiting elective process work and what processes were affected on April 22 and 23?
A. Students log into the Portal and submit a visiting elective application. When an Elective Coordinator (EC) processes a student’s application they can send a request to a Placement Contact to see if there is availability to host a visiting student. Placement contacts typically work in clinical locations. The Placement Contact receives an email with the details of the request (dates, specialty, etc.). The email has three ‘buttons’ embedded in it allowing the Placement Contact to “Accept” “Decline” or “Propose a Change”. They do not need to log into the Portal to perform this task and rely on direct links within the email to perform desired action. The Elective Coordinator, using the Portal, sees the request was sent on their dashboard. Likewise, medical students could also see placement offers on their dashboards. The emails to the Placement Contacts and students failed to send between April 22nd and April 23rd. In addition, new applications were not accepted and users were unable to upload documents to existing applications during this specific time.
Q. Why did this technical problem occur?
A. The technical difficulties were due to server capacity constraints with the information technology (IT) service provider. AFMC will be enhancing the process of verification of issues with the IT service provider to ensure this does not happen again.
Q. How do I know if my application was impacted?
A. If your application was impacted, you will be contacted.
Q. Will impacted students get a refund?
A. A total 73 applications were delayed in processing due to email notifications not being sent to Placement Contacts. AFMC will refund the faculties’ elective application fees for these 73 applications even if the student secured an elective at the school of choice, found another visiting elective or cancelled the application.
May 24, 2019 - Information for International Students Applying through Limited Enrollment at Host Schools
Limited Enrollment (LE) is a two-step randomized application process used by medical schools to give students an equal opportunity to access the application process for visiting electives when the demand is high but the number of spaces available is limited. AFMC has a help document and FAQs to help guide you through the limited enrollment process.
Help Document: Limited Enrollment (LE) for Students, FAQs: Limited Enrollment
Upcoming LE Registration Periods
The University of Toronto
June 25, 2019 – July 16, 2019 for January - March, 2020 electives
McMaster University
July 2, 2019 – July 29, 2019 for January - June, 2020 electives
The University of Ottawa
August 12, 2019 – August 23, 2019 for January - April, 2020 electives
*Dates are subject to change, always consult the institution profile ahead of time
May 16, 2019 - Help Desk Support during Victoria Day
The AFMC offices will be closed on May 20 for Victoria Day. Any tickets sent to the Help Desk will be addressed on Tuesday May 21.
April 17, 2019 - Help Desk Support Closed during Easter Weekend
The AFMC office will be closed on April 19 for Good Friday and on April 22 for Easter Monday. Any tickets sent to the Help Desk will be addressed on Tuesday April 23, 2019.
April 9, 2019 - CCME Meeting Schedule
Each year, the Canadian Conference on Medical Education (CCME) is the venue for the Portal team to directly engage with stakeholders on issues and priorities for visiting electives in Canada.The Portal Team will meet with the AFMC Electives Network to provide an update and we are hosting three meetings: the Portal Data Analysis Working Group, AFMC Student Portal Steering Committee, and the AFMC Working Group on Application Fees and Refunds.For more information, please contact Fatou Thioune, Project and Communications Assistant at fthioune@afmc.ca
About the Conference
The Canadian Conference on Medical Education (CCME), April 13-16, 2019, is the premier medical education conference in Canada. It hosts the largest annual gathering of medical educators in the country and this year McMaster University is hosting the conference.
April 8, 2019 - Before you can submit an application - 4 Critical Steps
Step 1 MY PROFILE - Complete the following tabs: Personal information, Contacts, Home School and Academic. Failing to complete required fields will cause delays when you start creating your application. Do not forget to list all of your core rotations (completed and scheduled).
Step 2 DOCUMENT - Upload all documents required by the host faculty. To find required documents a faculty is requesting, visit the university’s Institution Profile. These documents must be added to your student profile before you start an application. Arranging appointments for immunization and other requirements should be done weeks in advance.
Step 3 WISHLIST – Search the Visiting Electives Guide and add your elective opportunities to the Wishlist by clicking the star on the elective details page. Note the availability of the electives, application periods, prerequisites and blackout dates. Before adding electives to your Wishlist, list your preferred electives and dates to carefully plan your visiting elective schedule. A well thought out plan will make it easier to visualize options and make decisions about elective choices in the Portal.
Step 4 START A NEW APPLICATION - Help documents/Application process/Applying for elective opportunities
January 7, 2019 - Effective today, students enrolled in a medical school in Canada, the earliest they can apply is 26 weeks in advance of their start date
Effective today, the application period for students enrolled in a Medical school in Canada is reduced from 28 weeks to 26 weeks. Students will be able to submit their applications no earlier than 26 weeks in advance of their start date.
January 3, 2019 - Notice of application period change for students enrolled in a medical school in Canada
The Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) wishes to inform students the application period for students enrolled in a Medical school in Canada will be reduced from 28 weeks to 26 weeks. This change will come into effect on January 7, 2019.
As of this date, students will be able to submit their applications no earlier than 26 weeks in advance of their start date.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the help desk at: service@afmcstudentportal.ca
