uoportal@uottawa.ca
Visiting Electives Coordinator
y4portal@uottawa.ca
Home Electives Coordinator
613.562.5800 #2705
Guindon Hall
451 Smyth Rd
Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8M5
Message from the Director of Electives
Sanando docemus | We teach to heal
Located in Canada’s capital, the University of Ottawa and its affiliated hospitals provide an unparalleled learning experience and an educational environment rich with diversity, innovation, and research. uOttawa’s Faculty of Medicine was established in 1945. The only bilingual medical faculty in Canada, we are committed to excellence in education and health research, and are attuned to the needs of the communities we serve – from local to global.
Our elective opportunities provide a platform for you to consolidate your clinical skills, explore postgraduate programs in preparation for residency, and expand your professional network. Our clinician teachers and educators are world class. We look forward to welcoming students from across Canada and around the world. Come learn from our experienced teams!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Electives beginning July 7 and July 21, 2025: applications will open on Sunday, April 13 at midnight CENTRAL TIME.
Electives beginning August 4 and later: applications will open on a rolling schedule
Instructions on applying for ERMEP electives have changed. Please read the ERMEP section under Application Instructions for more information.
Please continue to visit the AFMC Student Portal for future updates regarding application timelines, eligibility criteria, required documents, policies and fees. Students will be able to see availability of elective opportunities before submitting an application and paying the fee. Please keep in mind that an indication of availability does not guarantee a confirmed elective.
Elective Availability: uOttawa’s Electives office does not track availability of any elective opportunity and is unable to provide you with an estimation of the availability. Individual departments set their own capacities. If you are interested in a visiting elective at uOttawa, please submit an application via the AFMC Student Portal. An indication of availability on the portal does not guarantee you will be offered an elective opportunity, as there are system delays in changing capacity.
Cancellations and Changes: When you accept a visiting elective through the capacity-based model, you are committing to that elective, and no cancellations or changes will be allowed. If there are extenuating circumstances, please reach out to your home Elective Coordinator and have them help you navigate the situation, and if required, reach out to the uOttawa Elective Coordinator on your behalf.
Refund Policy: uOttawa does not offer any refunds.
To be considered as a Medical Student from a Canadian School, students must meet the following requirements:
Notes *It is expected that elective students will function as part of a clinical service. The students will be and should have already been exposed to taking histories, performing physical examinations, formulating differential diagnoses, and providing documentation as an integral part of the clinical team. There may also be an expectation of on call duties, depending on the elective rotation.
ELECTIVE PLACEMENTS
Applying for ERMEP Rural Electives
The Eastern Regional Medical Education Program (ERMEP) welcomes medical students from across Canada for an enriching learning experience in rural Eastern Ontario!
If you are a learner at a medical school in Ontario, please apply directly to ERMEP.
If you are a learner attending medical school within Canada but outside of Ontario, please apply directly to ERMEP. When an elective has been conditionally confirmed by the ERMEP Coordinator, a notification will be sent to the learner and to the Electives Office at uOttawa. You will then need to submit an application via the AFMC student portal so that your document pre-requisites (immunizations, BLS, N-95, etc.) can be reviewed and your elective confirmed.
Applications may be submitted to ERMEP starting from April 13, 2025.
WHO TO CONTACT
Acceptable file formats (unless otherwise specified): PDF, PNG, JPEG, DOC
If your documents are readily available, please provide them at the time of application. If you do not have the documents at the time of application, you may still submit your application. For outstanding documents, you must e-mail them directly to our Risk Management office at vms_csa_immunise@uottawa.ca. Our Risk Management Office may also contact you directly to provide you with a deadline to submit your outstanding documents. If you do not meet that deadline, your application will be cancelled. The delay in providing the documents will not create a delay in processing your elective request.
WITH APPLICATION SUBMISSION
Note
Any fees related to documents required upon application submission are the responsibility of the student.
The application period for electives is now CLOSED.
The upcoming CSA release schedule is as follows:
CSA Block | Release Date | Covers Electives |
Block 1 | Sept 29, 2025 | Jan 5 – Mar 30, 2026 |
Block 2 | Oct 27, 2025 | Apr 6 – Jun 15, 2026 |
Block 3 | Dec 1, 2025 | Jun 22 – Aug 24, 2026 |
FYI: Each CSA block accepts a maximum of 50 students. Once this limit is reached, the block will close to new applications.
A CSA will be able to confirm a maximum of 6 weeks of electives (this can be two 3-week electives, three 2-week electives, or a 4-week and a 2-week elective). If you apply for more electives or weeks than you’re eligible for, the request will be cancelled. Refunds are not permitted.
To be considered as a Canadian Studying Abroad, students must meet the following requirements:
Notes
It is expected that elective students will function as part of a clinical service. The students will be and should have already been exposed to taking histories, performing physical examinations, formulating differential diagnoses and providing documentation as an integral part of the clinical team. There may also be an expectation of on call duties, depending on the elective rotation.
Core Rotation completion requirements for the following specialties:
Adult Neurology: student must have completed 4 weeks of Core IM clerkship rotation
Emergency Medicine: Student must have completed at least 3 months (12 weeks) of clinical core clerkship OR must have completed 4 weeks of emergency clinical electives
Family Medicine Community: Students must have completed their Core Family Medicine Rotation and half of their program core rotations
Family Medicine Inpatient: Students must have completed their Core Family Medicine Rotation and half of their program core rotations
GIM CTU & C/T: Student must have completed 6 weeks in core Internal Medicine or 4 weeks of CTU + 2 weeks of an elective in Medical subspecialties (cardiology, respirology, nephrology, rheumatology, endocrinology, infectious disease, geriatrics, medicine, etc).
Internal Medicine Cardiology: Student must have completed half of their Internal Medicine core rotations
Internal Medicine Gastroenterology: Student must have completed 6 weeks in core Internal Medicine or 4 weeks of CTU + 2 weeks of an elective in Medical subspecialties (cardiology, respirology, nephrology, rheumatology, endocrinology, infectious disease, geriatrics, medicine, etc).
Internal Medicine Geriatrics: Student must have completed half of their Internal Medicine core rotations
Internal Medicine Respirology: Students must have completed their Internal Medicine Clerkship Core Rotation
OBGYN: Student must have completed their OBGYN Core Rotation
Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery: Student must have completed surgical core rotation
Pediatric Electives important note: Visiting students are only eligible for one elective for a maximum of two weeks from the Department of Pediatrics for the entirety of their medical education.
Pediatrics Anesthesiology: Student must have experience in Adult Anesthesiology
Pediatrics Cardiology: Students must be in final year of clerkship
Pediatrics Complex Care: Core rotations in pediatrics must be complete
Pediatrics EM: Core rotations in pediatrics must be complete
Pediatrics Palliative Care: Student must have done at least 2 weeks of electives in adult palliative care
Pediatrics PICU: Core rotations in pediatrics must be complete and student must be in final year of clerkship
Pediatrics Respirology: Core rotations in pediatrics must be complete
Pediatrics Youth and Protection: Core rotations in pediatrics must be complete
Psychiatry: Students must be in their final year of clerkship
Rural ERMEP: Student must be in their final year of clerkship
ELECTIVE PLACEMENTS
WHO TO CONTACT
HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE
Canadians Studying Abroad (CSA) are not automatically charged UHIP. To be exempt from the UHIP charge, students must email proof of provincial coverage (e.g., a copy of their valid health card) directly to uoportal@uOttawa.ca.
International forms of coverage are not accepted.
If a student does not have a provincial health card, they may apply for one at ontario.ca. Once eligible, there is no longer a waiting period for OHIP coverage. Proof of coverage can be a copy of your provincial health card. If you do not have a provincial health card, you may apply for one here Apply for OHIP and get a health card | ontario.ca. Send a copy of the application form to uOInternational at uhipramu@uOttawa.ca with the start and end dates encompassing the elective time in Ottawa. There is no longer a waiting period for OHIP coverage. If you are eligible, you will have immediate health insurance coverage. Find out if you qualify: Apply for OHIP and get a health card | ontario.ca
COMMERCIAL GENERAL LIABILITY INSURANCE
If coverage is not provided by the home school, uOttawa will provide coverage only for electives confirmed through the AFMC Student Portal. The following is the coverage provided by uOttawa:
Acceptable file formats (unless otherwise specified): PDF, PNG, JPEG, DOC
If your documents are readily available, please provide them at the time of application. If you do not have the documents at the time of application, you may still submit your application. For outstanding documents, you must e-mail them directly to our Risk Management office at vms_csa_immunise@uottawa.ca. Our Risk Management Office may also contact you directly to provide you with a deadline to submit your outstanding documents. If you do not meet that deadline, your application will be cancelled. The delay in providing the documents will not create a delay in processing your elective request.
WITH APPLICATION SUBMISSION
Requirements:
Submitting Your PVSS Document:
University of Ottawa
Roger Guindon Hall (RGN)
Faculty of Medicine, CPRM Office
451 Smyth Road, Room 3071
Ottawa, ON K1H 8M5
Canada
Important Notes:
Note
Any fees related to documents required upon application submission are the responsibility of the student.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Electives beginning July 7 and July 21, 2025: applications will open on Sunday, April 13 at midnight CENTRAL TIME.
Electives beginning August 4 and later, applications will open on a rolling schedule
Instructions on applying for ERMEP electives have changed. Please read the ERMEP section under Application Instructions for more information.
Please continue to visit the AFMC Student Portal for future updates regarding application timelines, eligibility criteria, required documents, policies and fees. Students will be able to see availability of elective opportunities before submitting an application. Please keep in mind that an indication of availability does not guarantee a confirmed elective.
Elective Availability: uOttawa’s Electives office does not track availability of any elective opportunity and is unable to provide you with an estimation of the availability. Individual departments set their own capacities. If you are interested in a visiting elective at uOttawa, please submit an application via the AFMC Student Portal. An indication of availability on the portal does not guarantee you will be offered an elective opportunity, as there are system delays in changing capacity.
Change Request: No changes will be made to any confirmed electives or electives that have been offered to you. No changes will be made to an elective request that has been declined by the department.
Refund Policy: uOttawa does not offer any refunds.
To be considered as a MD Extension Program candidate, students must meet the following requirements:
NOTES: *It is expected that elective students will function as part of a clinical service. The students will be and should have already been exposed to taking histories, performing physical examinations, formulating differential diagnoses, and providing documentation as an integral part of the clinical team. There may also be an expectation of on call duties, depending on the elective rotation.
Only formal clinical electives are offered. Observerships, shadowing, or site visits are not available to any visiting medical students.
The Electives Office does not keep any waitlists for any electives.
The Electives Office does not have access to the availability or capacity of any electives and cannot provide you with elective spaces at any time before or during the application process.
Placement in a specific specialty, hospital or department and with a specific preceptor is dependent upon availability during the requested elective period. Submission of an elective application does not guarantee a placement. Due to the requirements of uOttawa’s own medical students and the popularity of the elective program, capacity is limited therefore not all interested students can be accommodated.
The Electives Office does not provide a letter of confirmation of elective completion. The student’s evaluation can be used as confirmation.
The electives are entirely educational and no salary is paid.
Students must provide their preceptor with their home university’s elective evaluation form. If students do not receive the completed form within 2 weeks of the elective’s end, they must inform the Visiting Electives Office uoportal@uottawa.ca who will follow up with the preceptor and department to ensure completion of evaluation.
Students not adhering to the following procedures will not be permitted to undertake electives and will have their application closed without reimbursement..
If you need to request time off during your elective for an appointment, conference, etc., please send your request to uoportal@uottawa.ca 6 weeks prior to your elective start date.
Applying for ERMEP Rural Electives
The Eastern Regional Medical Education Program (ERMEP) welcomes medical students from across Canada for an enriching learning experience in rural Eastern Ontario!
If you are a learner at a medical school in Ontario, please apply directly to ERMEP.
If you are a learner attending medical school within Canada but outside of Ontario, please apply directly to ERMEP. When an elective has been conditionally confirmed by the ERMEP Coordinator, a notification will be sent to the learner and to the Electives Office at uOttawa. You will then need to submit an application via the AFMC student portal so that your document pre-requisites (immunizations, BLS, N-95, etc.) can be reviewed and your elective confirmed.
Applications for the 2025-26 academic year may be submitted to ERMEP starting from April 13, 2025.
Acceptable file formats (unless otherwise specified): PDF, PNG, JPEG, DOC
Note
Any fees related to documents required upon application submission are the responsibility of the student.
School | Canadian Student Application Fee | Canadian Student Acceptance Fee | International Student Application Fee | International Student Acceptance Fee | Additional Fees Outside Portal |
University of Ottawa | $0 | $107.37 | $100 | $844.89 |
All visiting students must read the Infection Control and Tuberculosis Management module and provide the signed Module Completion Attestation Form with their application.
The COFM Blood Borne Viruses Policy is an evidence-based consensus document developed by an expert working group on behalf of the six Ontario Medical schools and faculties. The policy closely complies with current evidence contained within the SHEA guideline for Management of Healthcare Workers Who Are Infected with Hepatitis B Virus, Hepatitis C Virus, and/or Human Immunodeficiency Virus1 as well as the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) Blood Borne Viruses policy. This policy applies to all students attending an Ontario medical school who participate in clinical activities in Ontario.
The Faculty of Medicine is committed to providing a safe and positive learning environment. Even in the safest environments, you need to be prepared for an accident. Here is what you need to know if you have an accident in a clinical setting.
What you need to do
Proceed through the following 3 steps using the ABC method:
Regardless of the preceptor’s recommendation, every student has the obligation and the responsibility to seek immediate treatment after the accident if:
The University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine has ZERO tolerance for mistreatment of any form. If you experience or witness any form of mistreatment, kindly report it by completing an incident report. This report can be completed anonymously.
The mistreatment of medical students is an important issue for all universities. Let’s work together to stop the cycle of mistreatment.
For more information about preventing the mistreatment of medical students please go to our Be in the Know web-page.
Agency N95 Respirator Availability
Students must make their own arrangements for travelling, accommodations and lab coats.
uOttawa does not provide parking to visiting medical students. Students must make their own arrangements:
If you do not have all the required documents at the time of application, you may still submit your application. Please upload any available documents to your AFMC Student Portal account when submitting your application. Any outstanding documents can be emailed directly to our Risk Management office at vms_csa_immunise@uottawa.ca. All documents must be submitted and approved prior to the start date of your elective. Delays in submitting documents will not affect the processing of your elective request.
The elective lottery only considers requests for placements within the designated open window. Alternate dates will not be considered, but students are welcome to apply during future application windows.
You may enter the name(s) of the preceptor(s) in the comment box of the application if you wish to be placed with someone specific. We do consider these requests but cannot guarantee a specific preceptor as placement is dependent on preceptor/department availability.
This policy is being revised.
If you do not receive an elective in the first round of the lottery, you may apply for the second round. However, if you are not allocated an elective after both rounds, we will be unable to offer a placement.
Once a student has accepted an elective, it is considered confirmed, and no changes will be permitted.
Students must provide their preceptor with their home university’s elective evaluation form. If students do not receive the completed form within 2 weeks of the elective’s end, they must inform the Visiting Electives Office (uoportal@uottawa.ca) who will follow up with the preceptor and department to ensure completion of evaluation.
When you accept a visiting elective through the capacity-based model, you are committing to that elective, and no cancellations or changes will be allowed. If there are extenuating circumstances, please reach out to your home Elective Coordinator and have them help you navigate the situation, and if required, reach out to the uOttawa Elective Coordinator on your behalf.
uOttawa students can find the cancellation policy that applies to confirmed home electives in the Electives tile in Brightspace.
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