Students who want to distinguish themselves but also want to do a Clerkship can do a Specialty Track which includes clinical activities. They would follow the requirements for the Specialty Track, not the Clerkship style track. The same is true for a student who wants to do research, Global Health, or work on their MPH. Each of these can also be combined into a Specialty project.

The benefits of turning a Clerkship into a Clinical Specialty track include:

• An opportunity to demonstrate distinction, which will be featured in the MSPE
• A chance to get comfortable with the Specialty track process to improve the CD experience
• An opportunity for self-directed learning within the random learning environment of clerkships
• An opportunity to be a top-performing clinical student by taking the initiative for focused self-evaluation and training.
• The ability to do two – two-week clerkship activities within one Clinical Distinction Course
• The ability to create a clinical activity schedule that suits learning needs and lifestyle.

Further, a Specialty Track that includes clinical activities is one of the most robust ways to design a specialty project as it allows meaningful workplace assessment of the Core competencies by actually performing Entrustable Professional Activities with a faculty observer present. These are key features of the language residency directors speak.

For information on how to create a specialty track, read the section