Curriculum Options 

Drexel University College of Medicine offers students a choice of two academic curricula for the first two years of medical school.  These two tracks offer students the opportunity to choose a curriculum that best meets their preferred learning style.  The Interdisciplinary Foundations of Medicine (IFM) curriculum brings a fresh approach to the traditional preclinical program and features a lecture-based format that addresses a range of biomedical subjects in the context of clinical symptoms.  The Program for Integrated Learning (PIL) is a student-driven, problem-based interactive format where the students meet in small groups and determine, with faculty guidance, what material is important to learn as they work through clinical cases.

 

Both curriculum options offer students a general professional medical education, preparing them to pursue careers in either generalist or specialty disciplines. Designed to meet the needs of students and physicians better, the curricula are founded on the belief that students learn basic science material more readily when it is placed in a clinical context where its relevance is evident. Both curricula also focus on teaching students the critical skills of how to best prepare to be a life-long learner. 

 

The Third-Year curriculum provides medical students with a broad base of clinical experiences through clerkships in Family Practice, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Surgery. Academic, clinical and professional skills are emphasized and integrated in the inpatient and outpatient clinical setting.

 

Specific academic departmental goals and objectives established for all clerkship sites ensure comparability of the educational experience. Student evaluations are based on carefully defined department parameters applied at all sites.

 

The Fourth-Year curriculum allows each student the opportunity to learn in greater depth the objectives specified by the medical school curriculum. The Pathway Program, with its required and elective courses of study, provides defined educational tracks that enable students to gain career experiences. A General Professional Pathway is available for those students who desire a broad-based experience in a variety of clinical settings. Departmental Pathway advisors guide the students in their choice of electives based on the approved Pathways.

 

A graphic representation of the curriculum follows:

 

July

Aug

Sept

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

YEAR 1:          PROGRAM FOR INTEGRATED LEARNING (PIL)

Block I

Gross Anatomy; Histology

Block II

Physiology; Neuroscience

Block III

Biochemistry;MicrobiologyImmunology

Block IV

Primary Care Practicum

Clinical Skills; Patient as a Person; Integrated Science

YEAR 2:         PROGRAM FOR INTEGRATED LEARNING (PIL)

Block V-VII

Community Practicum; Pathology;Pathophysiology; Pharmacology; Psychiatry; Clinical Skills; Foundation of Basic Sciences;  Patient as a Person

YEAR 3

Family Medicine 6 weeks

Medicine 12 weeks

Ob-Gyn 6 weeks

Pediatrics 6 weeks

Psychiatry 6 weeks

Surgery 12 weeks

YEAR 4

Medicine Subintern—4 wks               Neurology—4 wks            Pathway Required—4 wks             Pathway Electives—24 wks

SPECIAL PROGRAMS, EMPHASES AND OTHER INNOVATIONS:

Program for Integrated Learning (PIL)is a student-centered, problem-based alternative curriculum track open to 84 students.  Students learn sciences basic to medicine in a small-group interactive format.  The program includes a 10-week primary care practicum in a generalist physician’s office. The Interdisciplinary Foundations of Medicine (IFM) links learning objectives of traditional first- and second-year courses to one or another clinically relevant symptom.  Each symptom serves as the basis of a 2-5 week module that enables students to learn concepts in an integrated clinical context.  The Fourth Year Pathway System is designed to allow students to select either a discipline-specific pathway or a General Professional Pathway.  There are three required courses and six electives.

 

Clerkship Directors

Clinical sites, course directors and contact persons for each clerkship.

 

Clinical Skills Education occurs throughout the four years utilizing the Clinical Skills Laboratory as well as the hospital bedside and outpatient preceptors’ offices.  At the end of the third year, all students are required to pass a multi-station standardized patient-based examination of their clinical skills.  Students who have deficiencies in certain skills are provided the opportunity to remediate, working with clinical faculty early in the course of their final year.

 

Women's Health Education Program

The Women's Health Education Program, which serves as a national model, provides support to faculty in integrating women's health issues into all aspects of the curriculum. The program is designed to improve the health care of all women by developing, implementing and evaluating a competency-based curriculum for medical students, postgraduate trainees and practicing physicians that emphasizes the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to maintain women's health.

 

Standardized Patients

Standardized patients are used throughout the curriculum by individual courses and departments to teach and to assess medical student progress in the clinical skills. Standardized patients are used for the Clinical Skills Evaluation for students entering the final year of medical studies.

 

Extended Curriculum

In some circumstances, students may be permitted to carry a course load that is reduced to allow the completion of one academic year over a period of two years. This Extended Curriculum may be requested by the student, or may be recommended by the Administration or the appropriate year Promotions Committee. Extended curriculum is intended to support students who are experiencing personal difficulties or temporary academic difficulty. Extended curriculum is granted by the Promotions Committee, and deadlines for request of Extended Curriculum will be posted. Students who are granted Extended Curriculum are expected to demonstrate Satisfactory performance in the reduced course load. Failure of courses during a period of Extended Curriculum may be considered grounds for dismissal from medical school. While the student is on Extended Curriculum, the student will be responsible for all fees, but tuition will be assessed proportionate to the course work carried. Students should review and request information from the Office of Financial Aid and the Bursar's Office prior to making final changes in course load.

 

Combined Degree Programs

 

Humanities Scholar Program

The Medical Humanities Division in the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine offers students the opportunity to enrich their medical education. Students who participate in the courses, seminars, films, lectures and directed research programs may qualify for the designation of Humanities Scholar. The requirements for the Humanities Scholar designation are:

1.      Completion of at least three humanities elective courses.

2.      Attendance at a total of five Division activities.

3.      Satisfactory completion of an independent study project.

 

Students must complete all requirements by March 15 of their final year. Those completing the requirements will receive a certificate in Medical Humanities and will be acknowledged in the Commencement Program at the time of graduation.

 

Graduation Requirements

 

Examinations

 

USMLE Steps 1 and 2

 

Student Advisory Systems

 

Leaves of Absence

 

Independent Study

 

Licensure

 

Course Evaluation System: Student Feedback System

At the end of every module, course or clerkship, each student is asked to complete a feedback form.  This feedback is an essential and required component of curriculum evaluation and one of the ways in which the school monitors the manner in which students at different sites are receiving their education.  Providing this feedback is an important responsibility for all students. The feedback not only provides students the opportunity to comment on the quality of their education, but to practice the art of constructive feedback, a necessary skill for practicing physicians.

 

The feedback form consists of a set of core questions allowing comparisons across courses or clerkships, and questions specific to the curriculum, evaluation, teaching faculty, etc. of the individual course or clerkship.  The highest level of confidentiality is maintained.