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Education Feature Stories: Other News: |
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Clinical Skills, Information Technology Among Areas Emphasized
In May the UW approved the implementation of a new medical school curriculum to begin with the entering class of 2001. Since 1998, more than 80 faculty members, administrators, residents, students, and alumni have participated in work groups, surveys, and focus groups for proposed curriculum enhancements. The changes reflect an emphasis on clinical skill development, the growing importance of information technology, and the continuing tradition of excellence in faculty/student mentoring and hands-on training in medical sciences.
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Noted teacher Dr. John Van Loon Sheffield takes his students on patient rounds in Seattle. A new medical school curriculum emphasizing clinical skill development, information technology, mentoring, and hands-on training will begin with the entering class of 2001. |
Entering students are assigned to one of five groups, informally called colleges. Each college has six core faculty members. Every student is assigned a faculty member who will advise and counsel the student throughout the four years of medical school. The objectives of the new college system are to develop and implement a four-year, coordinated clinical skills and professionalism curriculum; and augment and strengthen academic and career counseling.
The initial priorities of the colleges will be to link students with faculty mentors, introduce and teach a revised Introduction to Clinical Medicine course, and design and institute a professional skills development portfolio. The Professional Skills Portfolio will include developmental objectives in five areas: professionalism and ethics, communication, clinical reasoning, diagnostic skills, and information literacy. The portfolio is a tool for students and college faculty to track academic progress in accordance with learning objectives and developmental benchmarks defined by the School of Medicine.
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UW medical student Heidi Lowery checks a baby she helped deliver while training in Soldotna, Alaska. Opportunities for students to experience hands-on training such as this are emphazed in the new medical school curriculum. |
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The basic science courses in the first and second year remain the same with the addition of a critical reading course and a continuity-of-care requirement. During the first and second year of medical school, students will follow a chronic-disease patient in order to understand the patient’s experience in the health-care system. In the first or second year, students also complete a quarter-long preceptorship in ambulatory care.
Neurology will be added to the required clerkships, and the Surgery and Chronic Care clerkships will be restructured and expanded. The required clerkships will include:
- 6 weeks each in pediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology and family medicine
- 12 weeks in internal medicine
- 4 weeks in emergency medicine
- 10 weeks in surgery
- 4 weeks in chronic care
- 4 weeks in neurology
To accommodate the additional clinical requirements, electives will be reduced from 48 weeks to 32 weeks. The independent medical science study requirement will be modified to include the option of a fourth-year course in critical review of the medical literature. This will complement the existing independent study options. The new option is a structured course offered in the winter quarter for fourth-year students. Although the course is designed for, and preference given to, those students who have not opted for an independent study option, the course will also be open to other students.
A four-credit capstone course will be required during the two weeks preceding residency match in March. This course offers fourth-year students an analysis of timely issues such as risk management and health-care finance, while also concentrating on specific skills and knowledge that will be required as students move into their residency programs.
The medical school also is implementing a new structure to oversee and manage the curriculum. The new structure directly engages course chairs and clerkship directors in the ongoing review, assessment, and modification of the curriculum. The goal is to adapt the principles of continuous quality improvement to the management of the curriculum.
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