VSLO® Program Updates

Last Updated: October 16, 2025

Message from the VSLO Team

Dear VSLO Colleagues,

As you may have seen in our message last week, we are nearing our scheduled Visiting Student Learning Opportunities^™ (VSLO^®) system outage. We want to ensure you are aware that the current VSLO system will be unavailable to all users beginning on Monday, Nov. 10.

Please note: Only three calendar years of your institution’s application data will be available in the modernized VSLO system. If you need application data beyond the three-year calendar window, you must download your data prior to Monday, Nov. 10. Learn more about our data retention policy below. 

Institution users will gain access to the new system on Tuesday, Dec. 9, at which time you will have the opportunity to review and confirm that your institution’s data and user privileges have been accurately transferred.  

Students will be able to access the VSLO system on Monday, Dec.15 if they have been invited to the VSLO system by their Home institution.

In an Oct. 9 email, we communicated these key dates to all students with current VSLO access. We look forward to sharing updates about the VSLO program and showcasing the modernized system during our presentation at Learn Serve Lead 2025: The AAMC Annual Meeting, taking place in San Antonio, Texas from Saturday, Nov. 1 through Wednesday, Nov. 5. We invite you to join us for the VSLO Service Update on Sunday, Nov. 2 at 7 a.m. (see registration information below)! We will also be offering daily demonstrations of the new software. Check in at the AAMC Market Square in the Convention Center for the exact time and location of the demos.

Thank you,
The AAMC VSLO Team

VSLO Program Updates

New Data Retention Policy 

Please be aware of our new VSLO data retention policy as we prepare for the transition to the new system. In the modernized software, institutional users will be able to access three calendar years of their institution’s application data. Institutions are responsible for following their own data retention policies if they need to retain or archive application data beyond the period it is available in the VSLO system. Read the full Data Retention Policy for more details. 

Institutional users are encouraged to review the Reports Overview job aid and follow the outlined steps to access and download any data your institution would like to retain outside the three-year calendar window of data that will be available in the VSLO system. This download of data must be completed prior to Monday, Nov. 10. 

Connect with the VSLO Team During our Office Hours 

This month’s sessions are focusing on the key steps needed to prepare for the system modernization transition. Specifically, we will address any questions about preserving your data ahead of the new data retention policy implementation. You can register for VSLO Office Hours on our website. 

Action Needed to Update Host Institutions’ Email Templates

Several Host institutions currently use email templates that list the AAMC as the “Reply-To” email address in the VSLO application service. We urge you to take prompt action and update your “Reply-To” email address by Friday, Nov. 7, ahead of the upcoming scheduled system outage. If this update is not completed by the Nov. 7 deadline, the “Reply-To” email address will be replaced with the email of the individual listed in the “Contact Person for Applicants” field on your Institution Profile. 

To make this update, please follow these steps: 
1. Log into your dashboard. 
2. Go to Institution Profile 
(If you are both a Home and Host institution, click on “Host” and then “Institution Profile”). 
3. Select Email Templates. 
4. Click “Edit” next to the relevant email template. 
5. Update the “Reply-To” field with the appropriate institutional email address. 
6. Click “Save.” 

If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact the AAMC Support Center.

AAMC Resources for Medical Educators

Academic Medicine: Program and Institutional Coordinator Well-Being: Results from a National Survey 

A new study published in Academic Medicine explores the mental health and well-being, overall job satisfaction, likelihood to leave a position, and perceptions of job satisfiers, stressors, and dissatisfiers in a national sample of program and institutional coordinators in graduate medical education (GME). Read more.

Upcoming Events

Registration Open for Learn Serve Lead 2025: The AAMC Annual Meeting  

Have you registered for Learn Serve Lead 2025: The AAMC Annual Meeting, taking place in San Antonio, Texas from Saturday, Nov. 1, to Wednesday, Nov. 5? This annual event draws thousands of attendees from across the academic medicine community to connect with thought leaders and spark conversation on critical issues impacting medical education and patient care. Attendees will have access to all programming, including plenary sessions, the Voices of Medicine and Society lecture series, and 110+ breakout sessions. Register now. 

Save the Date: 2026 AAMC GSA-GCEC-OSR Joint National Meeting 

Join us from April 16-18, 2026, at the Hyatt Regency Orlando in Florida for the 2026 AAMC Group on Student Affairs (GSA)-Group on Collaboration, Engagement, and Community (GCEC)-Organization of Student Representatives (OSR) Joint National Meeting. This annual meeting brings together leaders, learners, and professionals dedicated to advancing the student experience and improving the teaching and learning environment in academic medicine for three days of timely engaging conversations, peer-to-peer networking, and more. Stay tuned for registration details.  

About the VSLO Program

The AAMC Visiting Student Learning Opportunities™ (VSLO^®) program enables medical and public health students to pursue short-term learning opportunities in locations away from their Home institutions.

View Program Updates

Contact VSLO Support

We encourage VSLO users to subscribe to our listservs for timely updates and more. Please send us a blank email to join our Global or U.S. Network Listservs.

We appreciate your candid feedback as it helps us identify and prioritize any resource or system enhancements. Please contact the AAMC Support Center or call 202-478-9878 if you have any questions. Representatives are available Monday - Friday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.