LEARN Curriculum: Phase I

PHASE IA: FOUNDATION PHASE

Transition to Medical School

Transition to Medical School is a two-week course that is designed to foster new medical students’ transition from a lay person to a medical professional in training.

Goals: 

  • To facilitate the transition from a lay person to a medical professional in training
  • To understand the role of professionalism in medicine 
  • To initiate the development of professional identity among trainees 
  • To facilitate academic success
  • To initiate pathways to lifelong learning
  • To promote teamwork amongst learners
  • To develop skills in self- and peer assessment and feedback

Objectives: 
At the end of the Transition to Medical School course, participants will be able to:

  • list the qualities of a medical professional;
  • articulate an individual strategy for learning success;
  • work in learning teams to assess a clinical problem;
  • assess and critique self and peer performance in team activities; and
  • provide specific verbal feedback to peers regarding performance in team activities.

Biomedical Building Blocks 

The Biomedical Building Blocks courses span across the first six months of medical school that integrates the basic and clinical sciences. These courses—The Body, Molecular Foundations of Medicine, Basic Mechanisms of Disease, and Pathogens and Host Defense—integrate the disciplines of biochemistry, genetics, cell biology, cellular physiology, basic principles of pharmacology, anatomy, introduction to radiology, introduction to orthopedics, immunology, microbiology, inflammation, homeostasis, rheumatologic and dermatologic diseases, pathology, hematology and oncology. The Biomedical Building Blocks courses are taught by many faculty from several basic science and clinical departments in an integrated and contextual manner.

Goals:

  • Develop an understanding of the structural features of the human body as they relate to normal function
  • Understand the role of normal biochemical and molecular processes and how they may be impaired following disease
  • Understand the relationship between the human host and the microbial world
  • Understand the general mechanisms that underlay disease processes

Objectives: 
At the end of the Biomedical Building Blocks courses, students will be able to:

  • recall the overall structure of the human body at the gross and microscopic level;
  • articulate the various biochemical pathways involved in the metabolism of macromolecules and how alterations may manifest as disease;
  • describe the normal relationship of cellular and subcellular components and recount how alterations derived from internal and external factors can lead to disease;
  • demonstrate the basic principles by which the body metabolizes and distributes pharmacologic components;
  • list and describe the components of the human immune system that protect the host against microbial pathogens;
  • describe how pathogens and host responses to pathogens can lead to acute and chronic diseases,
  • recognize and describe diseases of the immune system;
  • recognize and describe the mechanisms that lead to neoplasia and the host response to selected neoplastic processes;
  • identify the principles of hemostasis and how alterations lead to disease; and
  • describe the role of the skin in host defense and how localized and systemic defects lead to dermatologic disease.


PHASE IB: FOUNDATION PHASE

Integrated Pathophysiology

The Integrated Pathophysiology course is comprised of five systems-based blocks:

  • Cardiovascular-Pulmonary-Renal
  • Gastrointestinal-Nutrition
  • Endocrine-Reproductive
  • Mind-Brain-Behavior
  • Musculoskeletal-Rheumatology

Integrated across these systems are physiology, histology, pathology, histopathology, pharmacology and embryology. 

Goals:

  • Review normal anatomy across the organ-systems.
  • Understand normal physiology, embryology and histology across the organ-systems and how they may be impaired following disease.
  • Understand how pharmacological agents can be used to treat disease processes throughout the organ-systems.

Objectives:

At the end of the Integrated Pathophysiology course, students will be able to:

  • recall the overall structure of the human body at the gross and microscopic level as it pertains to each of the organ-systems;
  • understand normal embryological development as it pertains to each of the organ-systems and describe how altered development can manifest as organ-system specific disease;
  • articulate the various physiological mechanisms that exist throughout the organ-systems;   
  • describe the pathology and histopathology unique to organ-systems based diseases;
  • recognize the clinical signs and symptoms of the myriad of disease processes that can affect any of the human body organ-systems;
  • list the pharmacological agents that can be used to treat disease processes that can affect any of the human body organ-systems;
  • describe the mechanisms of action and side effects of each of these pharmacological agents.

LONGITUDINAL COURSES

Introduction to Clinical Medicine

Introduction to Clinical Medicine (ICM) is an 18-month course that is introduced in Phase IA and continues through to the end of Phase IB. In Phase IA, ICM introduces students to the clinical skills required to examine and integrate clinical information from patient history and physical exam with knowledge of pathophysiology and psychological factors in order to diagnose disease, prepare a differential diagnosis and account for biomedical and psychosocial data. In Phase IB, ICM reviews the knowledge and skills students began to develop in the course during Phase IA, then dives more deeply into clinical medicine concepts and skills through the introduction of pathology within the context of clinical medicine. The course aims to further develop students’ clinical reasoning skills in preparation for entry into Phase II, the Primary Clinical Phase.

Medicine in Contemporary Society

Medicine in Contemporary Society (MCS) is a 12-month course in the first academic year of Phase I. MCS provides students with an introduction to the compassionate and clinical practice of medicine while beginning to shape their developing professional identities. The course aims to teach students to become complete doctors who treat complete people, rather than just treating illnesses. Course activities are designed to help students to:

  • demonstrate an awareness of how emotions, attitudes and behaviors affect patient care;
  • work effectively as a member of a team by demonstrating respect, leadership and compassion in all interactions;
  • utilize an evidence based approach to exploring clinical questions, evaluate critically the medical literature, and effectively communicate research findings to patients and other health professionals; and
  • decide on an ethical course of action taking into account the values, preferences and goals of patients and families, consistent with patient centered care.

The course forms a bridge between the foundational work done in Phase I and the experience of clinical medicine which follows in Phases II and III. MCS is formative in focus, drawing on cases and experiences and challenges faced by students and faculty learning to practice medicine ethically and compassionately.

Themes in Medical Education

Five Themes in Medical Education (TiME) are threaded across Phase I of the LEARN curriculum and offered in one-week blocks during intersessions in between Phase I courses. The themes reflect the types of medical care we seek to develop in our students:

  • Patient and Family Centered Care
  • Evidence Based Care
  • Patient Safety and Quality Care
  • Ethical and Professional Care
  • Health Promotion and Preventive Care