Key changes made to International Visiting Medical Students Program

Faculty and staff in the Department of Medical Education have restructured the process of accepting international medical students for clinical electives at UAB. 

Majd Zayzafoon, M.D., Ph.D., MBA, director of International Medical Education in the School of Medicine, said the program applications will now submitted online through the new International Medical Education website and will be processed through a central portal.   

“I am happy to report the program is ready to accept applications,” Zayzafoon said. “We also created a mailbox internationalMD@uab.edu to receive all international requests.  Dedicated personnel will vet all applicants and guide international students interested in visiting UAB to the appropriate portal to apply.”

The following changes have been made to the International Visiting Medical Students program:

• Applicants must pass an academic competency and English proficiency screening.
• All applicants must successfully complete a SKYPE interview.
• General learning objectives have been set and are published on the website.
• Housing and transport from and to airport will be provided (to be paid for by the student).
• Visiting international students will register for one-month rotations only.  
• All electives have a one student limit per course.
• The program will only be offering limited numbers of courses.

Zayzafoon said there are future plans to include more courses, research electives, clinical observerships and many other programs.  “I encourage all SOM faculty to review the list of courses offered to our visiting international students, and to contact me directly if they’d like to participate in the program.”

For more information on the International Visiting Medical Students Program and International Medical Education at UAB, visit the International Medical Education website.