Stanford medical students: Your primary coordinator will be LeeAnn Robbins, 650-493-5000, ext. 65881, for initial processing and badging. After you get a badge, you will work with the designated specialty clerkship coordinator at VA Palo Alto health care through your point of contact at Stanford.

Please check the list of trainee coordinators for questions and/or assistance with the process.

For students coming from schools other than Stanford: The requirements below still apply. Please download the documents, complete them and coordinate with your school to forward these to the corresponding point of contact at VA Palo Alto health care. You must download, complete, and submit the packet with all required documents.

Scan and save each document separately. The title should be your last name in CAPS plus the document name, like SMITH-Fingerprinting Form.

• Postal mail (must be postmarked no later than the due date)
• Faxed (contact your coordinator for requirement# 4, email copies of the IDs to your coordinator; if you fax them they do not come out clearly)
• Email/electronic (School secured messaging OK; no Google.docs/DropBox; no Zip files either)

Please follow these instructions when completing, saving and forwarding your documents (especially Mac users):

• After you’ve filled out a PDF form in preview, choose “Print” from the File menu and then use the dialog box’s PDF option to save it to a PDF.
• This converts the information you’ve entered into the forms and turns it into part of the PDF (they call it “rasterizing it”).
• Though the data won’t be edited anymore, PC receiving-users will be able to read/save them.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation; we hope your clinical rotation will be a satisfying, interesting and fun learning experience.

List of requirements:

If you are out-of-state, it is best to go to a nearby VA facility to complete “courtesy fingerprinting”, to get the processing of your application expedited, within 3 to 4 weeks prior to arrival in California.

Contact a nearby VA facility; ask to be connected with the office that processes fingerprinting at their location (i.e., Human Resources, VA Police, etc.) and make the necessary arrangements.:

• Palo Alto VA fingerprints
• SOI# VA F1
• SON# 1440

Find a VA facility near you

Notify your POC/trainees coordinator at VA Palo Alto to inform them you will be completing “courtesy fingerprinting”.

Records training for trainees

An online tutorial for the Computerized Patient Records System (CPRS) – the VA's electronic medical record – is available on the web. Please review this prior to your orientation session at VA Palo Alto health care. Tab by tab provides a self-paced overview of the CPRS. While it is not necessary to review every module, those dealing with the cover sheet, medications, orders, and notes contain crucial information needed to function safely and efficiently.

CPRS tab by tab: A basic orientation