- Professional Service
VSLO® Program Updates
VSLO Modernization for the 2025-2026 Season
The AAMC Visiting Student Learning Opportunities™ (VSLO®) program is enhancing its system for institutions and students. These modifications—based on user-feedback—will optimize the experience for everyone.
With these modifications, Host institutions can now make electives visible within an open catalog, increasing transparency and flexibility for Home and Host institutions and helping applicants better develop their away rotation strategies. Host institutions will also be able to see one application for all date requests for an elective versus multiple separate applications, streamlining the application review process.
Streamlined, flexible, and transparent. This is the new VSLO system.
VSLO System Modernization Update
Our scheduled system outage is currently underway as we work to migrate institution data to the new VSLO platform. Due to the complexity of the data transfer, we have made the necessary decision to delay the new VSLO system launch to ensure the best performance for our users.
Key dates for your awareness:
- Institutions will gain access to the new system on Monday, Jan. 12 at 11 a.m. ET.
- Students will have access on Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 11 a.m. ET, contingent upon receiving invitations from their Home institutions.
If you have students with applications or elective offers impacted by the current transition, our team can assist them with identifying the appropriate contacts at Host institutions. For any offers that may have expired during the transition, Host institutions will be able to re-send offers beginning the week of Jan. 12.
The AAMC VSLO team and our IT partners are working tirelessly to prepare for a successful launch in the coming weeks, and we are confident you will experience an improved platform able to deliver exceptional support to the community.
The VSLO team will be here to support you with training, job aids, office hours, and timely resources during this transition. Please see our FAQ page for additional information.
VSLO System Modernization Training for Institutions
Visit the Demonstrations and Training for Institutions webpage to register for live Home and Host institution modernization system training.
VSLO Program Bulletin
Last Updated: November 20, 2025
Message from the VSLO Team
Dear VSLO Colleagues,
We appreciated seeing so many of you for the Visiting Student Learning Opportunities™ (VSLO®) program update at Learn Serve Lead 2025: The AAMC Annual Meeting. For colleagues who were not able to attend the VSLO session, our presentation is now available. As in years past, the meeting offered an invaluable opportunity to share insights, learn together, and connect with colleagues in the medical education community.
Thank you,
The AAMC VSLO Team
VSLO Program Updates
New Season, New Information: Updated VSLO Away Rotation Guidance
We’re pleased to announce that the VSLO Away Rotation Guidance at the Specialty Level webpage has been updated for the 2025-26 season. This resource is designed to support institutions and students in navigating the away rotation process with greater clarity and confidence.
The updated page includes:
- Direct links to specialty organization guidance (where available).
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Information on away rotation support (financial, mentors, and more) across specialties.
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Data on the average number of unique elective applications submitted per specialty and sub-specialty available in the VSLO application service.
We encourage institutions to share this resource with students as they plan their rotations and explore specialty-specific expectations.
VSLO Student Infographic
The VSLO student infographic has been updated with 2024-2025 academic year data. This resource provides information to assist students and advisors in the process of developing individual away rotation strategies. The infographic illustrates a range of data points, including specialty data, cadence of student and Host institution activity in the VSLO application service, and more. View the infographic.
AAMC Resources for Medical Educators
Academic Medicine: Navigating Expectation in the Transition to the Pass/Fail Step 1 Exam
The Navigating Expectations in the Transition to Pass/Fail Step 1 Exam (NEXT Step 1) project aims to study the scoring change and develop consensus recommendations for all shareholders affected. In this study, published in Academic Medicine, student leaders of the NEXT Step 1 project use their lived experiences as trainees and members of this collaborative project to identify key tensions that arose due to the scoring change. Read more.
Upcoming Events
Save the Date: 2026 AAMC GSA-GCEC-OSR Joint National Meeting
Join us from April 16-18, 2026, at the Hyatt Regency Orlando for the 2026 AAMC Group on Student Affairs (GSA)-Group on Collaboration, Engagement, and Community (GCEC)-Organization of Student Representative (OSR) Joint National Meeting. This annual meeting brings together leaders, learners, and professionals dedicated to advancing the student experience and improving the teaching and learning environment in academic medicine for three days of timely engaging conversations, peer-to-peer networking, and more. Stay tuned for registration details.
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.