We are committed to providing regular VSLO program updates through email and on this page. Please visit this page regularly and if you have any questions, email the VSLO team at: visitingstudents@aamc.org.
VSLO System Modernization Update
We are excited to share information about modernization of the VSLO application service, which reflects user feedback from many of you. We are on track to launch the new platform this winter and we look forward to sharing the changes with you in the coming months. To accommodate the transition to the new software, the current VSLO system will be unavailable from Nov. 1-30. We will be asking interested VSLO users to sign up to test certain components of the new software. The Home and Host institution testing is scheduled for mid-September and our new system training schedule will be posted in late October. In addition to live and recorded training sessions, we’ll have updated job aids and open office hours available to provide you and your teams with opportunities to familiarize yourself with the new platform ahead of the next away rotation season. Stay tuned!
Last Updated: July 17, 2025
Message from the VSLO Team
Dear VSLO Colleagues,
The Visiting Student Learning Opportunities™ (VSLO®) program continues to see steady growth with more than 20 new Host sites offering additional opportunities and an anticipated 10-12% increase in the total number of applicants seeking and securing away rotations this year.
This application season we continue seeing the trend of students accessing the VSLO application service earlier each season. The chart below highlights the volume of student activity in the VSLO system in recent months. This year’s data also indicates that the average number of electives applied to per student has remained consistent with data from 2024. MD students applied to an average of 9 electives and DO students applied to an average of 13.
You recently received our annual institutional user survey, and we encourage you to take a few minutes to complete it. We appreciate your feedback, and look forward to sharing results during Learn Serve Lead 2025: The AAMC Annual Meeting (see registration information below).
Lastly, work continues on the modernization of the VSLO platform, which is coming this winter. To accommodate the transition to the new software, the current VSLO system will be unavailable from Nov. 1-30. In the next month, we will be asking interested VSLO users to sign up to test certain components of the new software. The Home and Host institution testing is scheduled for mid-September and our new system training schedule will be posted in late October. In addition to live and recorded training sessions, we’ll have updated job aids and open office hours available to provide you and your teams with opportunities to familiarize yourself with the new platform ahead of the next away rotation season.
Thank you,
The AAMC VSLO Team
VSLO Program Updates
Review and Update "Reply-To" Email Address on Templates
You may have already heard from our team about updating the “reply-to" email address listed in your institution’s email templates in the VSLO application service. If your email templates still list the AAMC as the reply-to email address, it is important that you update it to a contact at your institution who can respond to student questions about your electives.
To make this change, please follow these steps:
1. Log into your dashboard.
2. Go to your Institution Profile. (If you are both a Home and Host institution, click on “Host” and then “Institution Profile”).
3. Select Email Templates.
4. Click Edit next to the relevant email template.
5. Update the Reply-To field with the appropriate institutional email address.
6. Click Save.
Connect with the VSLO Team During Our Office Hours
As your teams prepare for the next academic year, we are eager and ready to support you. We invite you to join us and bring questions and topics of interest that came up for your teams in the last academic year, or that you are discussing as you plan for the upcoming season. You can register for an upcoming session on the Demonstrations and Trainings page.
AAMC Resources for Medical Educators
New AAMC Medical School Operations Data Snapshots
The AAMC has published two new medical school operations data snapshots. The first data snapshot summarizes common faculty suggestions for improving promotion and tenure, based on responses to the StandPoint™ Faculty Engagement Survey. The identified themes offer medical school leaders actionable insights to enhance transparency, support, and fairness in their promotion and tenure processes. The second data snapshot focuses on administrative support, which is essential to the successful delivery of academic medicine’s core missions of education and research, helping both students and faculty thrive. This brief provides benchmarks of administrative staff supporting both MD programs and the research portfolio per full-time faculty at U.S. medical schools, offering insights to inform strategic planning and workforce decisions.
More Medical Students Want More Than an MD
As interest grows in dual advanced degrees, medical schools add opportunities. Students see benefits for building leadership skills and specific career paths. Read more.
Upcoming Events
Registration Now Open for Learn Serve Lead 2025: The AAMC Annual Meeting
Registration is now open for Learn Serve Lead 2025: The AAMC Annual Meeting, taking place in San Antonio, TX from Saturday, Nov. 1, to Wednesday, Nov. 5. This annual event draws thousands of attendees from across the academic medicine community to connect with thought leaders and spark conversation on critical issues impacting medical education and patient care. Attendees will have access to all programming, including plenary sessions, the Voices of Medicine and Society lecture series, and 110+ breakout sessions.
About the VSLO Program
The AAMC Visiting Student Learning Opportunities™ (VSLO®) program enables medical and public health students to pursue short-term learning opportunities in locations away from their Home institutions.
We encourage VSLO users to subscribe to our listservs for timely updates and more. Please send us a blank email to join our Global or U.S. Network Listservs.
We appreciate your candid feedback as it helps us identify and prioritize any resource or system enhancements. Please contact the AAMC Support Center or call 202-478-9878 if you have any questions. Representatives are available Monday - Friday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.