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Angie Hill
Administrator, Visiting Electives
CdnElectives@dal.ca
Canadian Students (includes MD Extension Program and Family Medicine student types)
intl.electives@dal.ca
International Students (includes CSA and IFMSA student types)
c/o Undergraduate Medical Education
PO Box 15000
Halifax, NS B3J 1T0 CANADA
Dalhousie Medical School is the medical school of Canada’s Maritimes (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island). We offer elective experiences in a variety of disciplines, and at over 100 teaching sites, in both tertiary and community-based settings in all three provinces. We welcome visiting medical students from both Canadian and non-Canadian schools.
Almost 900 electives are offered to visiting students each year! Please come join us!
Please note that Dalhousie University does not have the capacity to accept visiting students for electives at this time. We expect to be ready to accept visiting students for electives starting in January 2023, with opportunities listed and applications open on the portal several months prior to this. Updates will be available on this portal as they become available. We are very excited to have visiting students back for electives, and we thank you for your patience during this time of transition.
Failure to comply with any policies may result in cancellation of your elective and/or application, and/or a Letter of Professionalism.
All policies apply to all students all the time.
Requests for information that can be found on our profile will not be responded to.
Students in Canadian medical schools must be registered in their second-to-last or final year of their medical program at the time of the elective. We DO accept students in their fifth year (please see MD Extension Program tab).
We do not accept applications:
If the student already has an application processing;
If the elective is not for credit;
If the elective is only for 1 week;
If the student is not in good standing at their institution;
If you are not a medical student.
If you do not qualify but submit an application, it will be cancelled and there will be no refund.
English is the primary language of instruction and communication. By applying for an elective with Dalhousie, you are confirming that you are competent in English. No proof is required
As a result of COVID-19, at this time and until further notice, students are asked not to contact any departments directly regarding visiting electives. Only when the portal reopens may you contact departments following the instructions below.
The departments listed below, and only these departments, should be contacted directly to arrange an elective. You will only have to submit an application if the department tells you they have a spot for you. Departments may only be contacted within 16-26 weeks of your elective start date. Electives outside the 16-26-week range cannot be entered in the portal and will not be confirmed.
Use only the contact information listed below – do not phone.
PRIOR to contacting the department:
If you do contact the department directly and receive an elective offer, it will not be confirmed until:
Note: If you receive an offer from a department, it would be best to submit your application immediately to ensure there is enough time for it to be fully processed before your offer expires or ends up outside the 16-26 week window. Some home schools take several days to verify applications. Also, it may take several days for Dal to process your application
Do not contact one department while you have another application request or communication with another department processing. Your application and/or elective(s) may be cancelled.
Do not contact one department for an elective in another department. Only contact the department listed for an elective in that department. Please choose carefully.
Acceptable file formats (unless otherwise specified): PDF, PNG, JPEG
Influenza Vaccination
Students should ensure that they’ve had an influenza vaccination prior to arrival at Dalhousie (please bring proof of vaccination). If you haven’t been vaccinated, or do not have proof of vaccination, you may not be entitled to participate in some, or any, activities.
Police Record Check (PRC) with Vulnerable Sector Screening (VSS)
Most Canadian schools will verify your Police Record Check (PRC) with Vulnerable Sector Screening (VSS). If your home school does not verify this, it is your responsibility to provide one. You will be notified by Dalhousie prior to your application being processed if this is the case.
PRC’s/VSS’s must be less than one year old, and must be in effect during your elective.
If you have ordered the PRC but haven’t received it, email CdnElectives@dal.ca. We can process your application as long as you have uploaded the receipt under “Other required documents”.
You will need to upload the PRC to your application under “Police Record Check for Service with Vulnerable Sector” PRIOR to your elective being confirmed. If we do not receive your PRC within 7 days of an elective offer, your elective and application will be cancelled.
Failure to comply with any policies may result in cancellation of your elective and/or application, and/or a Letter of Professionalism.
All policies apply to all students all the time.
Requests for information that can be found on our profile will not be responded to.
You must be a Canadian student studying at a Canadian school.
We do not accept applications:
If the student already has an application processing;
If the elective is not for credit;
If the elective is only for 1 week;
If the student is not in good standing at their institution;
If you are not a medical student.
If you do not qualify but submit an application, it will be cancelled and there will be no refund.
English is the primary language of instruction and communication. By applying for an elective with Dalhousie, you are confirming that you are competent in English. No proof is required.
Information and procedures not specific to Family Medicine are not found in this tab. They can be located in the general tabs and still apply.
Students are not to contact departments or preceptors directly.
Family Medicine electives may be applied for between 10-26 weeks of your application submission date.
If you are interested in applying ONLY for a Family Medicine elective, please contact the AFMC Help Desk (via the Contact Help Desk link at the bottom of the page) PRIOR TO REGISTERING and provide them with the following information:
If you are interested in applying for a Family Medicine elective AND electives in other disciplines, you have two options:
Some departments take longer than others to organize electives. Please take the following approximate anticipated response times provided by departments into account when completing your application. Note: Requests may take longer than noted for a variety of reasons; for example, if staff are on vacation.
Please note that hospitals and the addresses/locations linked to individual elective opportunities may be listed for administrative purposes only. Elective sites are wide spread over some regions and may include a variety of rural communities.
Specify in your Comments if you have preferred locations, whether you can/can’t accept rural offers, and whether you have access to a vehicle.
Dalhousie Family Medicine is committed to offering as many elective opportunities as possible to visiting students across 3 provinces (NS, NB and PEI). Prior to adding choices to your application, please review the following document(s).
For all NS, NB and PE site information, please click here.
For information on individual opportunities, please click on any of the following links:
Acceptable file formats (unless otherwise specified): PDF, PNG, JPEG
Influenza Vaccination
Students should ensure that they’ve had an influenza vaccination prior to arrival at Dalhousie (please bring proof of vaccination). If you haven’t been vaccinated, or do not have proof of vaccination, you may not be entitled to participate in some, or any, activities.
Police Record Check (PRC) with Vulnerable Sector Screening (VSS)
Most Canadian schools will verify your Police Record Check (PRC) with Vulnerable Sector Screening (VSS). If your home school does not verify this, it is your responsibility to provide one. You will be notified by Dalhousie prior to your application being processed if this is the case.
PRC’s/VSS’s must be less than one year old, and must be in effect during your elective.
If you have ordered the PRC but haven’t received it, email CdnElectives@dal.ca. We can process your application as long as you have uploaded the receipt under “Other required documents”.
You will need to upload the PRC to your application under “Police Record Check for Service with Vulnerable Sector” PRIOR to your elective being confirmed. If we do not receive your PRC within 7 days of an elective offer, your elective and application will be cancelled.
Failure to comply with any policies may result in cancellation of your elective and/or application, and/or a Letter of Professionalism.
All policies apply to all students all the time.
Requests for information that can be found on our profile will not be responded to.
You must be a student enrolled in a Canadian medical school who did not match with CaRMS.
We do not accept applications:
If the student already has an application processing;
If the elective is not for credit;
If the elective is only for 1 week;
If the student is not in good standing at their institution;
If you are not a medical student.
If you do not qualify but submit an application, it will be cancelled and there will be no refund.
English is the primary language of instruction and communication. By applying for an elective with Dalhousie, you are confirming that you are competent in English. No proof is required
As a result of COVID-19, at this time and until further notice, students are asked not to contact any departments directly regarding visiting electives. Only when the portal reopens may you contact departments following the instructions below.
The departments listed below, and only these departments, should be contacted directly to arrange an elective. You will only have to submit an application if the department tells you they have a spot for you. Departments may only be contacted within 16-26 weeks of your elective start date. Electives outside the 16-26-week range cannot be entered in the portal and will not be confirmed.
Use only the contact information listed below – do not phone.
PRIOR to contacting the department:
If you do contact the department directly and receive an elective offer, it will not be confirmed until:
Note: If you receive an offer from a department, it would be best to submit your application immediately to ensure there is enough time for it to be fully processed before your offer expires or ends up outside the 16-26 week window. Some home schools take several days to verify applications. Also, it may take several days for Dal to process your application
Do not contact one department while you have another application request or communication with another department processing. Your application and/or elective(s) may be cancelled.
Do not contact one department for an elective in another department. Only contact the department listed for an elective in that department. Please choose carefully.
Acceptable file formats (unless otherwise specified): PDF, PNG, JPEG
Influenza Vaccination
Students should ensure that they’ve had an influenza vaccination prior to arrival at Dalhousie (please bring proof of vaccination). If you haven’t been vaccinated, or do not have proof of vaccination, you may not be entitled to participate in some, or any, activities.
Police Record Check (PRC) with Vulnerable Sector Screening (VSS)
Most Canadian schools will verify your Police Record Check (PRC) with Vulnerable Sector Screening (VSS). If your home school does not verify this, it is your responsibility to provide one. You will be notified by Dalhousie prior to your application being processed if this is the case.
PRC’s/VSS’s must be less than one year old, and must be in effect during your elective.
If you have ordered the PRC but haven’t received it, email CdnElectives@dal.ca. We can process your application as long as you have uploaded the receipt under “Other required documents”.
You will need to upload the PRC to your application under “Police Record Check for Service with Vulnerable Sector” PRIOR to your elective being confirmed. If we do not receive your PRC within 7 days of an elective offer, your elective and application will be cancelled.
Failure to comply with any policies may result in cancellation of your elective and/or application, and/or a Letter of Professionalism.
All policies apply to all students all the time.
Requests for information that can be found on our profile will not be responded to.
Students must be in their final year of study and have completed 6 core rotations (Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Surgery) prior to the start of the desired elective date. Your application will not be processed if all 6 core rotations, whether completed and/or scheduled, are not entered.
We do not accept applications:
If the student already has an application processing;
If the elective is not for credit;
If the elective is only for 1 week;
If the student is not in good standing at their institution;
If you are not a medical student.
If you do not qualify but submit an application, it will be cancelled and there will be no refund.
When proof of English language proficiency is necessary, students must achieve the following minimum score or above on a recognized English language proficiency test:
Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB)
Canadian Academic English Assessment (CAEL)
Canadian Test of English for Scholars and Trainees (CanTEST)
Applicants should arrange for their English language proficiency test score(s) to be sent directly from the testing agency to:
Dalhousie University TOEFL Code: 0915
Office of the Registrar
Dalhousie University
PO Box 15000
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
B3H 4R2
As a result of COVID-19, at this time and until further notice, students are asked not to contact any departments directly regarding visiting electives. Only when the portal reopens may you contact departments following the instructions below.
The departments listed below, and only these departments, should be contacted directly to arrange an elective. You will only have to submit an application if the department tells you they have a spot for you. Departments may only be contacted within 16-26 weeks of your elective start date. Electives outside the 16-26-week range cannot be entered in the portal and will not be confirmed.
Use only the contact information listed below – do not phone.
PRIOR to contacting the department:
If you do contact the department directly and receive an elective offer, it will not be confirmed until:
Note: If you receive an offer from a department, it would be best to submit your application immediately to ensure there is enough time for it to be fully processed before your offer expires or ends up outside the 16-26 week window. Some home schools take several days to verify applications. Also, it may take several days for Dal to process your application
Do not contact one department while you have another application request or communication with another department processing. Your application and/or elective(s) may be cancelled.
Do not contact one department for an elective in another department. Only contact the department listed for an elective in that department. Please choose carefully.
There are three four-month periods for electives:
January to April, May to August, and September to December.
Elective windows open at 8:30 Atlantic Time on the first weekday four months before the first start of the elective period and close at 16:00 Atlantic Time on the last weekday of the same month (exceptions are made when that weekday is a statutory holiday). Applications must be submitted a minimum of four calendar months in advance. Students cannot apply earlier than seven months in advance.
Declining an offer cancels your entire application and it can’t be reinstated. If you can no longer accept the dates, but have other available dates within 16-26 weeks of your application date, please email us immediately to request a date change.
Failure to comply with any policies may result in cancellation of your elective and/or application, and/or a Letter of Professionalism.
All policies apply to all students all the time.
Requests for information that can be found on our profile will not be responded to.
Students must be in their final year of study and have completed 6 core rotations (Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Surgery) prior to the start of the desired elective date. Your application will not be processed if all 6 core rotations, whether completed and/or scheduled, are not entered.
We do not accept applications:
If the student already has an application processing;
If the elective is not for credit;
If the elective is only for 1 week;
If the student is not in good standing at their institution;
If you are not a medical student.
If you do not qualify but submit an application, it will be cancelled and there will be no refund.
When proof of English language proficiency is necessary, students must achieve the following minimum score or above on a recognized English language proficiency test:
Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB)
Canadian Academic English Assessment (CAEL)
Canadian Test of English for Scholars and Trainees (CanTEST)
Applicants should arrange for their English language proficiency test score(s) to be sent directly from the testing agency to:
Dalhousie University TOEFL Code: 0915
Office of the Registrar
Dalhousie University
PO Box 15000
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
B3H 4R2
IFMSA student elective applications are done through individual contracts organized by IFMSA. Please have your school contact them at exchanges.incoming@gmail.com and have them verify your school’s status with them in an email to us.
The application deadline is 5 months before the elective date. Please do not apply via the AFMC Portal as of yet, your membership with IFMSA needs to be confirmed first and then we will let you know when you can apply via the Portal, to avoid you getting charged the application fee.
Updated September 15, 2020
The policies and procedures listed here are specifically for Dal students. All others on the Dal profile page may be ignored by Dal students as they are intended for visiting students only.
Failure by any student to comply with policies and procedures will be considered a serious breach of professionalism.
The Assistant Dean Clerkship will be notified, and this will result in disciplinary action, up to and including a notice on your MSPR.
AFMC requires a minimum of one week’s notice before the start of an elective for you to enter it in the portal. Also, it takes time for me to process your application, for the departments to respond, and for us to send your confirmation letter. If it’s an elective that doesn’t yet exist in the portal, it will take even longer. Please allow plenty of time to process your requests.
The following apply to all students in NS and NB.
NOTE: Some confirmation letters were sent out with the incorrect end dates (Heather’s error – Sorry!)
Unavailable Electives
If you booked an elective and it’s not in the portal exactly as you were offered, i.e. the dates are different, the title is different, the site is different — do not use it! Follow these instructions:
Portal processes, applications
Heather Irwin
CdnElectives@dal.ca
Student elective requirements
Vanessa Voerman
Med4Coordinator@dal.ca
AFMC portal issues
AFMC portal Help Desk via the portal
School |
Canadian Student Application Fee |
Canadian Student Acceptance Fee |
International Student Application Fee |
International Student Acceptance Fee |
Additional Fees Outside Portal |
Dalhousie University |
$150 |
$0 |
$100 |
$625 |
Acceptance Fee includes ($325 malpractice fee + $300 Acceptance fee) |
Prior to your elective please review Dalhousie UGME Policies, including policies on health and safety, professionalism, and harassment.
Accommodations and transportation are the responsibility of the clerk/student. If assistance is required with accommodation, it can be discussed with the site coordinator once an elective has been offered.
Declining an offer cancels your entire application and it can’t be reinstated. If you can no longer accept the dates, but have other available dates within 16-26 weeks of your application date (or 3-39 weeks for MD Extension Program students), please email us immediately to request a date change.
We do not accept requests to make changes to an elective once it has been accepted. If you can no longer attend an accepted elective, you will have to cancel it. Note: This will cancel your application.
The only change requests we will consider once an elective has been offered (but not accepted), is for dates. However, the dates still must be within the 16-26 week range of the date of your application (or 3-39 weeks for MD Extension Program students).
Only one change request will be considered per application.
Date changes cannot be made to requests that have already been submitted to departments. Date changes can only be made to requests that have yet to be submitted, or for which an offer has been made but not yet accepted.
Change Requests we cannot accommodate, and can’t respond to, are:
The AFMC Student Portal Helpdesk is where you can ask questions, consult help documents, and find general information related to visiting electives in Canada.
Or reach us directly at
service@afmcstudentportal.ca
Not ready to talk to someone? You can also download a series of comprehensive student resources.
© Student Portal 2022
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Search Electives
An initiative of
The AFMC Student Portal Helpdesk is where you can ask questions, consult help documents, and find general information related to visiting electives in Canada.
Or reach us directly at
service@afmcstudentportal.ca
Not ready to talk to someone? You can also download a series of comprehensive student resources.
Login
Register
Search Electives
An initiative of
© Student Portal 2022
The AFMC Student Portal for visiting electives is currently closed. Visiting Electives for the Class of 2022 were suspended during the AFMC Board meeting on April 18, 2021. That includes electives for both Canadian and International students. The Undergraduate Deans of Canada’s medical schools are meeting on a regular basis and the decision to re-open the Portal will be made collaboratively and consistently across the country taking into account learning opportunities, provincial covid restrictions and other public health concerns.
We are working with our new Service Provider to build out the new visiting elective service portal. It will be ready when electives are offered again.
The AFMC Student Portal will be offline starting December 23, 2021. The refreshed portal will being rolling out in late February 2022.
For MCAT® Fee Assistance Program Applicants please verify eligibility and submit application through our AFMC website.
We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.
If you have any questions, please contact the Help Desk at service@afmcstudentportal.ca