Curriculum: Our Best Efforts to Bring Out Their Best
The world needs strong leaders in health care, from caring for individual patients and families to improving delivery at the systems level. Our Trunks and Branches curriculum supports comprehensive scientific and clinical learning through:
1. Patient-centered education. Beginning in the M1 year, students work with Standardized Patients/Physical Exam Patients to learn physical exam and communication skills, observe other health professionals in a range of clinical environments, and take part in interactive patient presentations. Patient care responsibilities ramp up during core clinical rotations in the M2 Clinical Trunk and continue in the M3/M4 Branches through clinical electives, sub-Is and longitudinal clinics. This high engagement level keeps the mission of medicine front and center throughout their training.
2. Integrated learning. Science and clinical foundational experiences make up the first two years of our curriculum known as the Trunks, correlating what students learn in the classroom to what they see on the wards.
3. Making an impact. The Branches part of our curriculum (years three and four) gives students the flexibility to make an impact on their terms, whether through a research project, dual degree, leadership initiative, Path of Excellence or anything else they can dream up.
4. Interprofessional education (IPE). Learning with students in other health professions through IPE courses and related student groups help these future providers get a head start on working together to take care of patients more effectively. One example is our Student-Run Free Clinic, where students from U-M Medical, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Public Health and Nursing schools collaborate to deliver health care to uninsured patients.
5. Competency-based assessments. Student progress is tracked continuously throughout their training with us. All assessments are aligned with the graduate medical education standards that residency programs expect graduates to fulfill.
6. Learning community. Our M-Home welcomes all students into one of four houses on their first day of medical school and continues to serve them for the rest of their time with us. Counselors, faculty and coaches, and peers from all four classes make up a significant base of support and camaraderie needed for this journey.
