Curriculum
The fundamental objective of the School of Medicine is to graduate
physicians able to meet the health care needs of Missouri and the nation.
Classes begin in the fall of year 1. By using 35 weeks of study the first year and 48
weeks every year after that, each student will have the opportunity
to earn the credits necessary for both a baccalaureate and a medical degree.
This six-year continuum does not make an arbitrary separation between liberal arts
and professional education.
The first two years of the six-year curriculum are arranged for the student to
blend three-fourths of the time in liberal arts coursework and one-fourth of
the time in introduction to medicine coursework. This initial two-year period
allows students adequate time to determine whether they are motivated enough to
continue in medicine. At the same time, the faculty
will have adequate opportunity to judge whether each student has the
characteristics and capabilities necessary for a career in medicine.
The introduction to medicine courses during the first two years are designed to
provide just that -- an introduction to medicine. Special attention is given to
the effect of illness on the patient, the family and the community. There is
emphasis on the coordination of effort, the team approach, to the solution of
medical and health care problems. The year 1 and 2 curriculum has been further enhanced with the addition of a geriatrics program which pairs students with aging mentors. The courses will integrate patient interviews
and examinations with branches of science fundamental to clinical medicine,
including anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, psychology and sociology.
These courses have certain coordinated objectives, each of which represents an
important component in the general concept of medicine as applied to human
biology. The objectives are to help students understand and learn about the
following:
- The language and vocabulary of medicine.
- The effects of illness on individuals, families and communities.
- The background setting of illness and health care, including the
importance of social, psychological and economic factors.
- The history of medicine and its present state.
- The roles and responsibilities of physicians and other personnel
involved in health care.
- Selected content information from anatomy, physiology, chemistry,
psychology, sociology and other sciences fundamental to medicine, together with
the continuing importance of such information in the reasoning of the
physician.
- The logic, rationale and process of clinical reasoning.
An important feature of the School of Medicine program is the early and
continuing contact of the student with a team of scholars called docents. Each
docent is a full-time physician responsible for the education of a small group of
students. The docent serves as a role model for students as well as a guide and
mentor. At year 3, students are assigned to a docent team, a group composed of students
from each of year 3 through year 6 classes. Beginning in year 4, students spend two months
each year on docent rotation, an internal medicine clerkship. During this time in particular,
and throughout the rest of the academic year, the docents guide their students
through the experiences necessary to acquire a strong foundation of clinical
competence. Students in their third and fourth years are partnered with their
fifth- and sixth-year peers on the docent unit.
The School of Medicine program in years 3 to 6 of the combined degree
program has several features:
- The core educational program is designed and directed by physicians who
are primarily concerned with medical student education and who have patient
care responsibilities;
- Since the curriculum core content is based on clinical experiences, the
medical student's education will be problem-centered. Faculty from many
University disciplines participate in teaching medical students, and education in
the clinical sciences takes place in affiliated hospitals. These hospitals
provide a communitywide model for patient care;
- The curriculum integrates liberal arts, basic sciences and clinical
medicine. It uses planned repetition, reinforcement and relevancy to enable
students to acquire the requisite attitudes, knowledge and skills expected of a Medical School graduate;
- Students may have an extended program by taking extra time;
- During the third through sixth years, students are required to return to
the Volker campus at least two times, usually in years 3 and 4, to take
liberal arts coursework. Students are also required to enroll in a medical
humanities course in year 5 or year 6.
