MD Curriculum

Performance-based assessment

Brown's Medical Curriculum is designed to train students in the abilities widely considered essential to the practice of medicine in the 21st century. It was carefully developed by faculty, students, and deans who, in 1990, set out to paint a portrait of the ideal physician. After listing the characteristics of that ideal, the architects of MD2000 delineated the nine abilities expected of all The Warren Alpert Medical School graduates.

These abilities encompass both the art and the science of medicine, ranging from traditional clinical skills to cultural awareness, ethics, and self-reflection. Each ability comes with a list of specific criteria that the student is expected to master at three different levels, depending on the student's stage of professional development (beginner during Year I; intermediate during Years II and III; advanced during Year IV). Students are evaluated primarily through performance-based methods, including the use of standardized patients, interactive computer instruction, videotapes, and community health projects.

In addition to the Nine Abilities, the faculty have defined a knowledge base that represents the core content of the medical curriculum. All students will possess this core of knowledge upon graduation in addition to the knowledge gained by pursuing their own interests and by being exposed to the wide variety of faculty interests. Taken together, the mission statement, the Nine Abilities, and the knowledge base comprise the Educational Blueprint for The Warren Alpert Medical School, upon which our curriculum is built.

Students can plan their course of study to acquire all the components of the educational blueprint. They monitor their progress through The Warren Alpert Medical School's computerized curriculum management tool, MedPlan, which can be downloaded by students. The staff in the Office of Curriculum Affairs also closely monitors student progress to be sure that students are meeting competency benchmarks at appropriate times.

The Warren Alpert Medical School's Nine Abilities

  1. Effective communication: listens attentively and communicates clearly with patients, families, and the health care team.
  2. Basic clinical skills: obtains an appropriate history and performs a skillful, comprehensive examination in a variety of patient encounters.
  3. Using science in the practice of medicine: Recognizes and explains health problems based upon current scientific understanding; develops a plan for intervention that utilizes scientific understanding.
  4. Diagnosis, management, and prevention: diagnoses, manages, and presents the common health problems of individuals, families, and communities in a collaborative relationship.
  5. Lifelong learning: is aware of the limits of his/her personal knowledge; actively sets clear learning goals, pursues them and applies the knowledge gained to the professional practice.
  6. Professional development and personal growth: practices medicine with an awareness of his/strengths and weaknesses; seeks help for difficulties; develops appropriate coping strategies and responds appropriately to constructive criticism.
  7. Social and community contexts of health care: in addressing the broader context of medicine, responds to nonbiological factors that influence health; utilizes community resources to support patients; advocates for better patient and community health.
  8. Moral reasoning and clinical ethics: recognizes the ethical dimensions of medical practice and health policy; identifies, analyzes, and effectively carries out a course of action that takes account of this ethical complexity.
  9. Problem solving: recognizes problems and takes effective steps in developing a plan of action to address these problems.

How does it work?

Every basic science course and clinical clerkship weaves the nine abilities into the teaching and assessment. For example, in general pathology, students meet in small groups to review real case histories. With help from pathologists from our teaching hospitals, they try to unravel the cause of death by reviewing case histories, laboratory data, and, ultimately, autopsy results. These small group exercises focus on Ability III.

The prosection/demonstrations in human morphology are another example of how the abilities are woven into the basic science courses. A pair of students reviews the literature relating the region of the body they're dissecting to recent advances in medical practice. They then present their findings to the faculty in a 10-minute presentation, pointing out the anatomy in the process. Thus they've demonstrated competence in Abilities I, III, and V - as well as their knowledge of anatomy.

In the clinical years, Objective Structure Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) assess basic clinical skills by using standardized patients - real people trained to portray patients with a variety of medical problems. In the OSCE at the end of the Ob/Gyn clerkship, students must counsel a patient about contraception, perform a breast and pelvic examination, demonstrate hand maneuvers involved in delivering a baby, and work with the patient through difficult ethical dilemmas. This OSCE enables faculty to certify students' competence in Abilities I, II, IV, and VIII.

By using the Nine Abilities as an important component of our medical education blueprint, we are better able to assure that our medical curriculum will provide students with the tools to become competent physicians.

First year Curriculum

Semester 1

  • BIO 360: Doctoring I
  • BIO 364: Integrated Medical Sciences I

Semester 2

  • BIO 362: Doctoring I
  • BIO 365: Integrated Medical Sciences II

Second year Curriculum

Fall Semester

  • Bio 279 Systemic Pathology
  • Bio 350 Integrative Pathophysiology/Pharmacology
    • Cardiovascular
    • Hematology
    • Pulmonary
    • Renal
  • Bio 362 Doctoring II
  • Bio 552: Medical Spanish

Spring Semester

  • Bio 280 Systemic Pathology
  • Bio 351 Integrative Pathophysiology/Pharmacology
    • Supporting Structures
    • Infectious Diseases
    • Gastroenterology
    • Endocrinology
    • Human Reproduction, Growth & Development
  • Bio 363 Doctoring II
  • Bio 372 Epidemiology for the Practice of Medicine (1/2 credit)
  • Bio 552: Medical Spanish

Clinical years Curriculum

Clinical Years

  • BI 301  - Clerkship in Medicine (12 weeks)
  • BI 390  - Clerkship in Surgery (8 weeks)
  • BI 450  - Clerkship in Pediatrics (6 weeks)
  • BI 490  - Clerkship in Obstetrics/Gynecology (6 weeks)
  • BI 510  - Clerkship in Psychiatry (6 weeks)
  • BI 540  - Clerkship in Community Health (6 weeks)
  • BI 580  - Clerkship in Family Medicine (6 weeks)
Clerkship Guide(pdf)