The Visiting Student Learning Opportunities™ (VSLO®) team has provided access to resources we hope will assist you as you counsel your students in developing an effective away rotation application strategy, and submitting their applications in the VSLO application service. We will continue to update this page as additional resources become available.
The VSLO Program: Streamlining the Away Rotation Application Process
Learn how you can support your students through the away rotation application process with the VSLO program.
New Specialty Spotlight Webinars Feature Strategies to Support Advisors and Applicants
The AAMC ERAS and Careers in Medicine® (CiM®) teams are hosting a new series of webinars featuring specialty-specific guidance for medical school advisors and 2025 residency applicants. During each webinar, a program director and an advisor will share best practices in preparation for the 2025 ERAS application season. All webinars will be recorded for later viewing.
- Family Medicine (view a recording of the May 23 webinar).
- Pediatrics (view a recording of the June 11 webinar).
- Internal Medicine (view a recording of the June 27 webinar).
- General Surgery (view a recording of the July 10 webinar)
- Emergency Medicine (view a recording of the July 25 webinar)
If you miss a webinar, you can access the recordings on the Webinars for Medical and Graduate Students webpage. This collection includes all AAMC webinars on topics ranging from specialty exploration and selection to applying to MD/PhD and PhD programs, financial aid, and applying to residencies and fellowships.
VSLO Post-Rotation Student Survey
This Post-Rotation Student Survey gathers data to help better assess the decisions students make regarding their away rotation opportunities and how those decisions and experiences inform residency decisions.
Resources
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VSLO Student Webinar: Away Rotations from a Host Institution Perspective: In this one-hour webinar, students heard about two highly requested specialties (emergency medicine and family medicine) from Host institution representatives. They shared insight into their application review and decision-making processes, what to expect during an away rotation, and how students can approach evaluating their rotation experiences.
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VSLO Student Training 2: Resources, Data, and Next Steps: This one-hour training provided students with an overview of Visiting Student Learning Opportunities™ (VSLO®) resources and data, addressed common student questions, and guided students through tasks and scenarios they may encounter in the VSLO application service.
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VSLO® Applicant Checklist: This new resource will help applicants keep track of tasks they need to complete while applying to electives in the VSLO application service.
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VSLO Student Training: Application Overview: This one hour training provides students with an overview of the VSLO application service, addresses common student questions, and walks through the dashboard and application.
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VSLO Student Webinar: Away Rotations 2024-25: This webinar addresses common questions about the away rotation process. Attendees heard directly from a panel of Host institutions representing three highly requested specialties and gained an understanding of their review and decision-making processes.
- VSLO Student Infographic: The infographic provides information to assist students (and advisors guiding students) through the process of developing individual away rotation strategies. The infographic illustrates a range of data points, including specialty data, average time between application submission and elective start dates, cadence of student and Host institution activity in the VSLO application service, and more.
- The VSLO® Annual Summary Dashboard: View data and data analytic tools that directly support away rotation decision-making processes and learn about student application and hosted opportunities data at the state, regional, and national levels for all specialty away rotations available through the VSLO application service.
- November 2024 webinar recordings:
- October 2023 webinar recordings:
- April 2024 - American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) Presentation
- Advisor FAQs
- One of the many useful tools mentioned during the webinar was an example of a way the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell (a 2021 VSLO Advisor panelist) helps students as they organize their rotation options.
- VSLO Student Webinar: Away Rotations 2023-24
- This webinar addresses common questions about the away rotation process. Attendees heard directly from a panel of Host institutions and gained an understanding of their respective review and decision-making processes.