Fourth-year electives require a different educational approach from third-year core clerkships. Core clerkships follow a detailed and structured curriculum, whereas fourth-year electives emphasize self-directed learning and greater responsibility for identifying and pursuing individual learning goals. Accordingly, electives do not require comprehensive reading lists or highly detailed specialty-specific objectives.
Because the general educational goals, expectations, and structure apply across subspecialties, a separate curriculum has not been developed for each elective. Instead, the generic curriculum presented in the next section applies to all fourth-year electives. Electives are typically four weeks in duration.