MEDICAL STUDENT ROTATION

Rotation Offerings

Thank you for your interest in the Emergency Medicine medical student rotation at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC).  Our rotation offers the opportunity to train in a large, safety-net hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Nationally recognized, HCMC was Minnesota’s first Level 1 Trauma Center and continues to be the state’s largest provider for emergency care.  Our high-volume, county emergency department provides a unique training experience for students interested in caring for a diverse patient population in an autonomous learning environment.

EM Rotation

Our Emergency Medicine (EM) rotation is open to all third- and fourth-year medical students planning to pursue a career in EM.  This 4-week rotation consists of approximately 12-15 clinical shifts in the ED where students are supervised by senior EM residents and attending physicians.  Students also participate in weekly EM-focused student didactics and resident conferences.  All students rotating with us must have completed both Internal Medicine and Surgery rotations prior to the start of their EM rotation.  During the rotation, students are evaluated on their clinical performance on each shift and these shift evaluations are compiled to determine a student’s overall performance in terms of interpersonal relations, data acquisition and data synthesis.  A Standardized Letter of Evaluation (SLOE) is provided to all students that request one and will be based on the student’s clinical performance throughout the rotation. 

EM/IM Rotation

For students interested in applying to our combined Emergency Medicine/Internal Medicine (EM/IM) residency program, we also offer a combined EM/IM student rotation. During this rotation, students spend 2 weeks rotating in the Emergency Department and 2 weeks rotating with the Internal Medicine service at Hennepin.  Students also have the opportunity to participate in didactics related to each of these services.  A Standardized Letter of Evaluation (SLOE) is provided to all students that request one and will include details regarding the students’ clinical performance on both the EM and medicine portions of the rotation.   

Ultrasound Rotation

EM-bound students with a special interest in ultrasound can also apply for our 4-week ultrasound rotation.  Point-of-care ultrasound was first introduced in the ED at Hennepin in 1985, and Hennepin has a robust emergency ultrasound program.  As a rotator, students will work with our expert ultrasound faculty and full-time ultrasound technologist.  They will complete ultrasound scanning shifts in our department and participate in EM and US-focused didactics.  An EM Sub-specialty Standardized Letter of Evaluation (SLOE) is provided to all students that request one. 

Externship in Community Health Outcomes (ECHO)

In addition to our medical student rotations, we offer five externship positions with scholarship funding for students interested in completing a visiting rotation in HCMC’s Emergency Department. Emergency Medicine serves a broad patient population, and we seek to support a future workforce that reflects the community’s needs. We recognize that each student brings unique experiences, perspectives, and strengths that enhance patient care and the learning environment.

The ECHO scholarship provides $2,000 in funding to assist with expenses such as airfare and housing during the rotation. This opportunity is open to all 4th-year medical students who are committed to a career in Emergency Medicine and are eager to contribute to our clinical and academic community.

Externs will complete the same clinical and didactic training as our standard visiting students while also engaging in community health experiences. Each extern will be paired with a dedicated faculty and resident mentor for guidance and professional development throughout the rotation.

Applications for the 2025 ECHO scholarship are open through the Clinician Nexus site. The application deadline is April 1, 2025.

Application Process

Applications for all of our student rotations are available through the Clinician Nexus site.  Please ensure that you select the application for the specific rotation type that you are interested in.  You may apply for multiple types of rotations if you would like. We accept USMLE Step 1 or COMLEX Level 1 passing scores for our student rotations. However, please note that for our residency program, we do require students to submit a USMLE Step 2 score as a part of their ERAS application.  

Applications for 2025 rotations open in February.  Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and must be submitted at least 8 weeks prior to the desired rotation start date to allow for sufficient time for onboarding.  

Available rotation dates for 2025 are as follows:

June 30 – July 27

July 28 – August 24

August 25 – September 21

September 29 – October 26

October 27 – November 23

If you have further questions regarding our Emergency Medicine student rotation, please contact our Medical Student Coordinator, Taresa Sawh.