I said a few posts ago that I would delve into the subject of green book rotations, so here I am. For the third and fourth year of medical school, students have to do their core and elective clinical rotations at hospitals. If you're a medical student in the US, you have the luxury of having a teaching hospital right in the vicinity of your school. Caribbean students, however, spend the last two years of med school in the US rotating at different hospitals across the country that are affiliated with the Caribbean school. When you do rotate, you want to make sure the clerkships you're doing are greenbook.
Officially, "green book" means a specific program that is approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). These green book clinical rotations (clerkships) are pretty much always associated with a TEACHING HOSPITAL that HAS A RESIDENCY PROGRAM for the PARTICULAR CLERKSHIP you wish to rotate in, whether it be Peds, Surgery, Family Medicine etc. These hospitals are focused on actual TEACHING. There will be interns, attendings, residents, and fellows that you will be working with and thus you will have many more opportunities for learning. If you go to a hospital or a clinic that has no residency program then that's considered blue book and it's not ACGME approved. Why does it matter? Because this can be a problem for gaining full licensure or a residency spot in some specific states in which it's required by law that all potential doctors completed their training in ACGME approved programs. States that fall under this category are California, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. So please remember to research all your clerkship options and be sure that they are all ACGME-accredited so you don't run into any problems in the future.
For those of you who are curious "Blue Book" programs are those that do not have a residency program in the clerkship you are rotating in, but the hospital itself does have residency programs for other associated specialities. Example: you are doing a peds rotation at a hospital that has no pediatrics residency program, but does have a Family medicine program--> this would be considered blue book.
You can find out which programs are approved by the ACGME by going to the official portal here.
Since I will be attending AUC, I decided to do the extra leg-work and find which programs are greenbook at each US hospital site affiliated with AUC. Please note that I'm missing a few programs that are accredited! Although, the clerkship doesn't appear on the ACGME site, it could still be affiliated with another hospital program that is approved by ACGME, thus making it greenbook.
AUC requires their students to do core clerkships for a total of 42 weeks.
12 weeks-Internal Medicine
12 weeks- Surgery
6 weeks- Pediatrics
6 weeks- OB/GYN
6 weeks- Psychiatry
And then AUC wants you to do elective clerkships for 30 weeks.
4 weeks- Neurology (required elective)
4 weeks- Family Medicine (required elective)
4-8 weeks- Clerkship of Interest
18-22 weeks- Internal Medicine subspecialties
List of AUC Affiliated Hospital Sites and Greenbook Clinical Programs of Each Hospital
Officially, "green book" means a specific program that is approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). These green book clinical rotations (clerkships) are pretty much always associated with a TEACHING HOSPITAL that HAS A RESIDENCY PROGRAM for the PARTICULAR CLERKSHIP you wish to rotate in, whether it be Peds, Surgery, Family Medicine etc. These hospitals are focused on actual TEACHING. There will be interns, attendings, residents, and fellows that you will be working with and thus you will have many more opportunities for learning. If you go to a hospital or a clinic that has no residency program then that's considered blue book and it's not ACGME approved. Why does it matter? Because this can be a problem for gaining full licensure or a residency spot in some specific states in which it's required by law that all potential doctors completed their training in ACGME approved programs. States that fall under this category are California, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. So please remember to research all your clerkship options and be sure that they are all ACGME-accredited so you don't run into any problems in the future.
For those of you who are curious "Blue Book" programs are those that do not have a residency program in the clerkship you are rotating in, but the hospital itself does have residency programs for other associated specialities. Example: you are doing a peds rotation at a hospital that has no pediatrics residency program, but does have a Family medicine program--> this would be considered blue book.
You can find out which programs are approved by the ACGME by going to the official portal here.
Since I will be attending AUC, I decided to do the extra leg-work and find which programs are greenbook at each US hospital site affiliated with AUC. Please note that I'm missing a few programs that are accredited! Although, the clerkship doesn't appear on the ACGME site, it could still be affiliated with another hospital program that is approved by ACGME, thus making it greenbook.
AUC requires their students to do core clerkships for a total of 42 weeks.
12 weeks-Internal Medicine
12 weeks- Surgery
6 weeks- Pediatrics
6 weeks- OB/GYN
6 weeks- Psychiatry
And then AUC wants you to do elective clerkships for 30 weeks.
4 weeks- Neurology (required elective)
4 weeks- Family Medicine (required elective)
4-8 weeks- Clerkship of Interest
18-22 weeks- Internal Medicine subspecialties
List of AUC Affiliated Hospital Sites and Greenbook Clinical Programs of Each Hospital
- California
- Connecticut
- Griffen Hospital
- Internal Medicine
- St. Mary's Hospital
- General Surgery, Internal Medicine
- Florida
- Miami Beach Community Center
- Psychiatry*
- Illinois
- Mount Sinai Medical Center
- Internal Medicine, OB/GYN, Pediatrics, Family Medicine
- Louisiana
- Brentwood Behavioral Center
- Psychiatry
- Ohio
- Aultman Hospital
- OB/GYN, Family Medicine
- Maryland
- St. Agnes
- General Surgery, Internal medicine
- Spring Grove
- none
- Union Memorial
- General Surgery, Internal medicine
- Michigan
- Providence Hospital
- General Surgery, Internal Med, OB/GYN, Pediatrics*, Psychiatry*, Family Med
- New York
- Bronx- Lebanon Hospital Center
- General Surgery, Internal Medicine, OB/GYN, Pediatrics, Family Medicine
- Brooklyn Hospital
- General Surgery, Internal Medicine, OB/GYN, Pediatrics, Family Medicine
- Flushing Hospital
- Internal Medicine, OB/GYN, Pediatrics
- Lutheran Medical Center
- Internal Medicine, OB/GYN, Family Medicine
- Mount Vernon Hospital
- Internal Medicine
- Internal Medicine Sub-I
- Nassau Health Center Corporation
- General Surgery, Internal Medicine, OB/GYN, Pediatrics, Psychiatry
- St. John's Episcopal Hospital
- Internal Medicine, Psychiatry
- Staten Island University Hospital
- General Surgery, Internal Medicine, OB/GYN, Pediatrics
* The program is affiliated with an ACGME-approved program from another hospital.
Bottom-line: GREENBOOK
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Which hospitals are considered greenbook in your list? I'm just curious
ReplyDeleteIt's not the hospitals themselves which are greenbook, its the specific clerkship within each hospital. One hospital may have a greenbook program (a residency program) for pediatrics, but not one for family medicine.
ReplyDeleteThe clerkships I list under each hospital are the greenbook programs of that hospital. Some hospitals have many greenbook programs, and others have only one or two.
Hope that helps clarify things!
not all US med schools are attached to a teaching hospital as you claimed FYI
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info
ReplyDeleteDo you know where I could find whether Florida requires all ACGME rotations for licensure? Right now I am in a blue Peds rotation and I have blue Psych after that. According to my school it won't make any difference...I just can't trust anything they say.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Could anybody tell me about st martinus university in Curacao( Faculty of Medicines).
ReplyDeleteThis is great information. I am going to start at UMHS in St. Kitts, another of the accredited caribbean medical schools this year. They have a great program and I love their campus. Your information will really help me better prepare for my own medical school experiences.
ReplyDeleteanyone know if Florida requires all core and electives to be ACGME for Caribbean med students?
ReplyDeleteYou wrote California has none but I thought we had Bakersfield?
ReplyDeleteAUC lost bakersfields a few months ago as per the school. Ross bought out all the spots for their own students. However the last group of AUC students are still able to rotate there.
DeleteI am a current 5th semester at AUC. We still have bakersfield. It is a greenbook for all cores except for peds(bluebook).
Deletemy information is a bit outdated at the moment. things have certainly changed with the rotations schedule
DeleteWhat is the UMHS list of Affiliated Hospital Sites and Greenbook Clinical Programs….Does anyone know about UMHS in the caribbean and how good it is compared to AUC?
ReplyDeleteFor California, is "greenbook" required for all rotations (Core and electives)? Or just core rotations?
ReplyDeletedefinitely for all cores and i think all your electives except 2 should be green book. I think you're allowed the other 2 to be blue book. I would check the California Licensing site for MDs to be sure
DeleteHey Andrea! I have taken a 7 year gap between Year 2 and Year 3. Do you think it's even worth to proceed with year 3? Do I have a chance at Residency?
ReplyDelete