The Department of Medicine is highly committed to supporting high quality, resident research and non-standard elective (R&NSE) experiences. In order to ensure the educational integrity of R&NSE months, residents with the help of their program director are required to prepare an educational plan for all R&NSEs that will be reviewed and approved by the program director committee at least 3 months prior to the start of the elective. The educational plan should contain the following:

   I. Letter of support from Faculty sponsor

   II. Letter of intent describing the research and/or non-standard    elective and completed R&NSE proposal form that includes:
     - time-frame
     - proposed source of support (faculty, UC, VA, other)
     - goals / objectives
     - methods to achieve goals
     - outcomes e.g. presentation at research symposium, manuscript,    noon conference

   III. Commitment to present a poster summarizing the work/experience    at the Annual Rector Research/Scholarship Symposium
    (requirement for all R&NSEs)

Every reasonable effort will be made to provide hospital-based-departmental funding in support of all approved R&NSE months. Hospital-based-departmental funding will be available for the first month of research in any given year, subsequent months will usually need to be funded via faculty sponsorship (exceptions require program director approval). Funding will be tied to the site of the resident’s mentor or to the site of maximal clinical time. Some clinical work may be required for research months based at Moffitt-Long and SFGH. Final approval of the use of hospital based funding for R&NSE months will be made by the site director.

If the elective is not based at a UCSF site, and will require the resident to miss their continuity clinic, the resident must make arrangements for clinic coverage with their clinic director. The resident’s program director must receive an email or other written approval for the time away from the resident’s clinic director.

Please note that residents are allowed a max of 3 months of non-internal medicine time (research) during their 3 years of residency.