The Core Curriculum

Required core courses in the School of Medicine include pre-clinical and clinical courses.

Preclinical courses, taught in the first two years of the curriculum, are intended to provide students with an understanding of normal anatomy, histology, physiology, development and aging as integrated disciplines that provide a basis for understanding disease. Students will study the biological mechanisms governing homeostasis, the mechanisms of drug action, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and therapeutics, the genetic, biochemical, physiologic, environmental and pathologic mechanisms underlying disease states and their treatments, the clinical, laboratory, radiologic and pathologic manifestations of diseases and the manifestations and consequences of illness at various stages of life.  They will learn about the interaction of health maintenance, disease prevention, and the principles of public health as they relate to the practice of medicine. They will be introduced to the structure and function of the health care system and how it affects the delivery of care, the basic epidemiologic methods and statistical principles that underlie evidence-based medicine, and the ethical principles of the medical profession.  They will study the psychological aspects of illness, as well as the influence of culture, race and ethnicity on the perception of illness and its treatment.

Clinical courses, taught in the final two years of the curriculum, are intended to provide students with the skills to be able to successfully identify, access, interpret and apply scientific literature, to obtain both a comprehensive and directed medical history and perform a careful, accurate, complete and directed physical examination, and to competently perform common technical procedures.   Students are taught to reason deductively to solve clinical problems, including those in which information is incomplete or ambiguous, to communicate effectively with patients, families, colleagues and other health care professionals, to correctly diagnose common illnesses based upon historical, physical examination and laboratory data, to recognize and incorporate into clinical decision making the important psychosocial determinants contributing to poor health, and to construct and execute a therapeutic plan.   Students will learn to recognize and respond appropriately to medical situations that are immediately life-threatening, as well as to work effectively with the other members of the health care team and to relate in an effective manner to patients of different ages, gender and backgrounds.