Your first day

By now, you should have received an acceptance e-mail with registration details and general information.

If you are rotating on the Chicago campus (map  PDF) , you must register on the Monday start date with the the Visiting Student Programs staff in the Method Atrium at 300 E. Superior St., 1st floor, before reporting to your department. You will be given maps, a hospital id and scrub card, and other important information to help you along throughout your rotation. If your departmental check-in time and registration conflict, please contact the our office to make other arrangements.

If you are rotating on the Evanston campus (map  PDF) or at Children’s Memorial Hospital  (map  PDF)and are a US medical student, you may bypass the Chicago campus registration and report directly to your department. However, you will need to fill out a registration card at your respective department. If you are an international student, you will receive further instructions from the our office regarding your student health requirements.

Visiting student rights and responsibilities: As a visiting student, you are not enrolled at Northwestern University and are not considered a matriculated student. You do, however, have the same duties and responsibilities as a fourth medical student and are expected to be treated as an active participant on a rotation as a Northwestern final year medical student would be treated.

Hospital orientation: Please review the "Success on the Wards" guide  PDF, a Student-to-Student Guide to Success. This guide was written by Northwestern medical students for students in their 3rd year before entering hospital rotations. While some information may not pertain to you or your rotation, there is other useful and practical information that will help you in adjusting to both the Northwestern healthcare system and the United States medical system.

Dress Code: Students are considered part of the patient care team and are therefore expected to dress and act in a manner suitable to a professional medical environment. Men are expected to wear dress trousers and ties; women are expected to wear dresses, skirts, or trousers. Socks or pantyhose should always be worn, and open-toe shoes are not acceptable. Shorts, extremely high cut skirts, and sleeveless shirts are also unacceptable. Scrubs are usually acceptable if you are on-call, however, if in doubt, ask your resident. Keep in mind that some attendings expect students to be prepared to be dressed nicely and clean shaven (men) even if you’re post-call. Also, keep in mind that how you dress may depend upon which clerkship you are on. For some rotations, you may wear scrubs every day, whereas during others, they are never permitted. Scrubs will be provided, if required. (The Ward Survival Guide)

Scrub Attire Policy: Hospital laundered scrub attire is not to be worn when traveling to and from the hospitals. Please review the scrub policy  PDF.

White Coat: Please bring a waist-length white coat from home. These may also be purchased from the uniform hospital shop in the lobby of the Galter Outpatient Pavilion (675 N. St. Clair Street).

Pagers/Lockers: The Visiting Student Programs staff does not issue pagers or lockers to visiting students. Some departments have extras and some don’t. If any are available, you will be informed by your department.

Email: Email is our main form of communication. You will receive important emails from both the department and the Visiting Student Programs staff. Please check your inbox regularly before arriving and during your rotation.

Electronic Medical Record System: Please refer to the Ward Survival Guide  PDF for details. If rotating on the Chicago campus, you will receive more information at registration.

Library privileges (Chicago campus): As a visiting student, you may reference books and/or use the computer stations and study tables. You may not check books out of the library. The library is located in the Ward Building, 1st floor (303 E. Chicago Avenue).

Time off: If you must miss a day, you must always inform your supervisor (resident/attending) and your department. Time off is always requested in advance and approval is obtained by your supervisor or department. Be sure to obtain important phone numbers/pager numbers of your supervisors. Do not inform our office of a time off request.

Safety: As some rotations finish late at night, please be aware of your surroundings when leaving the hospital. Please refer to the Ward Survival Guide (see above). The SafeRide Shuttle is a free shuttle on the Chicago campus available for anyone with a WildCARD. Please see the Visiting Student Coordinator to make arrangements.

Evaluations/Forms: If your school will be providing us with an Evaluation Form, please send in before arriving or give this to the Visiting Student Programs staff at registration. If you do not have a form, a Northwestern University evaluation form will be used. This form is often completed several months after you have left Northwestern and will not be ready for you to take with you. It will be mailed directly to your school once received. This will be the only official document provided by Northwestern. We do not provide certificates of attendance. If your school, however, has a required attendance form, please bring it along.

Letters of recommendation: The Augusta Webster, MD, Office of Medical Education does not handle letters of recommendation for visiting students. If you request one from a Faculty member, it is your responsibility to have this taken care of. Do not have the letter sent to our office.