Course Descriptions

Clinical Gross Anatomy (1st Semester)

The goal of Clinical Gross Anatomy is for student physicians to acquire the knowledge and language of anatomy necessary to practice medicine and facilitate discussion of problems and medical findings between colleagues. Anatomy is taught using different modalities that emphasize concepts over memorization of facts, as well as an appreciation of the association between structure and function. In this course you will encounter your first patient and work as part of your first professional team. Examination of your patient by the process of dissection will be your primary learning resource.

Structures will be identified based on characteristics such as source, target, attachments, and/or relationship with other structures, not by rote. Teams of four students will actively learn anatomy through dissection, discussion of clinical cases, palpation, and examination of prosected materials, radiographs, and cross-sectional images. Anatomy faculty will both give lectures designed to emphasize concepts, structure, and function and be present in the laboratory to give individualized assistance in the performing and understanding of the day's dissection.

Clinicians will be involved both in and out of the dissection laboratory and reinforce anatomy through radiology, surgery, and clinical procedures. By the end of the course, student physicians will be empowered to analyze, synthesize, and apply clinically relevant anatomical information to the development of a clinical diagnosis essential for good patient care.

Foundations of Clinical Medicine I (1st Semester)

The Foundations of Clinical Medicine I (Foundations I) course introduces students to essential aspects of effective and compassionate care from the very first days of medical school. Through lectures, small-group seminars, and clinical experiences, the course emphasizes the knowledge, skills, and attitudes physicians need to build therapeutic and effective relationships with patients and with their colleagues, and to appreciate the context in which care is delivered. With an emphasis on professionalism and ethical behavior in clinical practice, the course also assists students in using writing and reflection to recognize their role as clinicians and advocates.

Foundations I marks the beginning of a longitudinal course that introduces students to patients in the classroom and in the clinical setting. We begin with fundamental rapport-building and interviewing techniques and consider the many factors that may impact effective communication and clinical care.

Throughout the course, students are expected to provide constructive feedback to and receive constructive feedback from their colleagues as part of the teaching and teamwork that are fundamental to effective clinical care and to sustained satisfaction within the profession of medicine.

Foundations I course content:

  • Patient-physician relationship
  • Professional role
  • Medical ethics and values

Histology and Pathology (1st Semester)

The Histology and Pathology (H&P) course introduces students to the microscopic structure and functional correlates of the major tissues and organ systems in the body and to the basic pathologic processes of inflammation, repair and neoplasia.    The course content is covered in lectures, small group laboratories, examination of gross specimens and digitized glass slides, self-assessment quizzes  and in microscopic tutorials on multiheaded microscopes.  The chronologic progression through the histology components are closely correlated with the regional anatomy being covered simultaneously in the Gross Anatomy course. The course lectures are delivered primarily by the course directors, Dr. Patrice Spitalnik and Dr. Jay Lefkowitch.   The course directors, several other senior faculty members and pathology resident staff teach in the laboratories.

The histology component includes epithelia, connective tissue, bone and cartilage, nervous system, muscle, blood and hematopoiesis, lymphoid system, circulatory system, pulmonary system, kidney and urinary system, endocrine and male and female reproductive systems, liver and gastrointestinal system.  The basic pathology component includes cell injury, acute and chronic inflammation, wound healing, shock, hemorrhage and thrombosis, and neoplasia.   The ultrastructure of cells as seen in transmission electron microscopy is discussed and demonstrated at relevant intervals throughout H&P.

The large group lectures serve to present the key principles and concepts for each topic covered in histology and basic pathology, with special emphasis on normal and abnormal pathophysiology in the clinical setting.   Lectures are followed by laboratory sessions comprising digitized glass slide examination (normal tissues and organs, and, latterly, organ system diseases such as pneumonia and cirrhosis), examination of gross specimens, power point reviews and self-assessment quizzes.   

Molecular Mechanisms and Disease (1st Semester)

In Molecular Mechanisms and Disease, students begin to learn about the processes that generate, regulate, and conversely damage the various cell types that make up the organs of our body. The emphasis will be on the common elements that are shared by different organs—first the cells, then their aggregates, the “tissues,” and finally how they come together to form the various organs of the body. In subsequent courses students apply these principles to specific organs.

The course, thus, is composed of the following 4 sections:  

  1. The Biochemistry and Pharmacology of Tissues, The Basics
  2. The Biochemistry and Pharmacology of Nerve, Muscle, Immune Cells, Blood Tissues.
  3. The Biochemistry and Pharmacology of Tissue Metabolism
  4. The Biochemistry and Pharmacology of the Gene and its Genome

Each section of the course will be highlighted by frequent small groups that include problem-solving sessions, team-based learning opportunities, and a journal club, in which students debate the meaning of data in classical articles. Lastly, Patient-as-Professors rounds will invite patients to share their life stories, which illustrate various cellular processes under discussion.

The Body: In Health and Disease I (2nd Semester)

The Body: In Health and Disease I begins in January of first year and continues until June of first year. This is a multidisciplinary course that incorporates aspects of embryology, histology, pathology, pathophysiology, and therapeutics.

The goals of the course are to help students gain a working understanding of:

  • normal organ development, structure, and function
  • changes in organ structure and function with disease processes
  • approaches to therapy, including use of pharmaceutical agents

The course will also provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate, in preparation for the Major Clinical Year, the ability to work collaboratively, apply their knowledge, and solve clinical problems. Instructional methods include lectures to provide core knowledge, case-based small-group discussions, team-based learning exercises, and independent readings. The course structure and content is closely related to the curriculum of the concurrent courses, Foundations of Clinical Medicine II and Psychiatric Medicine.

The course has ten sections taught over the spring and fall of your second and third semesters of enrollment:

  • Microbiology/Infectious Diseases
  • Basic Immunology
  • Cardiovascular System
  • Pulmonary System
  • Renal/Urinary Tract
  • Endocrinology/Reproduction
  • Neurosciences
  • GI Tract/Liver
  • Hematology/Oncology
  • Rheumatology/Musculoskeletal

Foundations of Clinical Medicine II (2nd Semester)

In Foundations II, students begin working in tutorial groups where they learn to perform an advanced medical interview and a complete physical examination with actual patients. At the same time, Foundations II lectures and seminars explore patient care beyond the doctor-patient relationship through an exploration of health systems and health promotion. Students participate in Narrative Medicine seminars in order to enhance their ability to receive, comprehend, and represent the stories of illness and suffering. Throughout the course, students are expected to provide constructive feedback to and receive constructive feedback from their colleagues as part of the teaching and teamwork that are fundamental to effective clinical care and to sustained satisfaction within the profession of medicine.

Foundations II course content:

  • Tutorials (physical examination, advanced medical interview, case write-ups, clinical reasoning and case presentations, professional role)
  • Health systems
  • Health promotion/behavior change
  • Narrative Medicine seminars
  • Medical ethics and values

Psychiatric Medicine (2nd Semester)

This course consists of lectures and small groups for discussion and interviewing patients. The concepts of depression and psychosis will be introduced and the major psychiatric syndromes will be covered, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, and personality disorders. Normal child and adult psychological development will also be presented. Principles of psychiatric treatment will be introduced. Psychiatric patients will be interviewed in small groups.

The Body: In Health and Disease II (3rd Semester)

The Body: In Health and Disease II begins in August of second year and continues until December of second year. This is a multidisciplinary course that incorporates aspects of embryology, histology, pathology, pathophysiology, and therapeutics.

The goals of the course are to help students gain a working understanding of:

  • normal organ development, structure, and function
  • changes in organ structure and function with disease processes
  • approaches to therapy including use of pharmaceutical agents

The course will also provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate, in preparation for the Major Clinical Year, the ability to work collaboratively, apply their knowledge, and solve clinical problems.

Instructional methods include lectures to provide core knowledge, case-based small-group discussions, team-based learning exercises, and independent readings.

The course structure and content are closely related to the curriculum of the concurrent courses, Foundations in Clinical Medicine III and Psychiatric Medicine.

Foundations of Clinical Medicine III (3rd Semester)

Foundations III furthers preparation for the Major Clinical Year. Students in tutorials continue to interview and examine patients, integrating their understanding of mechanisms and pathology as they implement clinical reasoning to produce effective written and oral case presentations. In both lectures and seminars, students learn clinical epidemiology and focus on the skills and attitudes important to care for patients in particularly challenging environments.

Throughout the course, students are expected to provide constructive feedback to and receive constructive feedback from their colleagues as part of the teaching and teamwork that are fundamental to effective clinical care and to sustained satisfaction within the profession of medicine.

Foundations III course content:

  • Tutorials (physical examination, advanced medical interview, case write-ups, clinical reasoning and case presentations, professional role)
  • Advanced medical encounters (substance abuse, end-of-life, domestic violence)
  • Evidence-based medicine/epidemiology