Email this pageEducational Mission & Objectives
Mission
The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (URSMD) is dedicated to training future physicians/scientists/humanists who excel and become leaders in their professions. This goal is met by fostering the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors of our students. In our educational process, we combine evidence-based medical science with the relationship-centered art of medicine. The Double Helix Curriculum, which fully integrates clinical and basic science training throughout all four medical school years, is our 21st Century expression of the biopsychosocial model developed here by Dr. George Engel. Our curriculum presents this patient-centered model of medical practice across every level of natural systems organization – from molecules, cells and organs to patients and doctors to families and communities – developed across the four years of medical school. Our curriculum offers opportunities to conduct mentored research in basic science, clinical and translational science, allowing students to guide their education to meet their long-term goals.
The School provides a supportive, challenging environment designed to foster collaboration rather than competition. In this curriculum, students acquire all the elements of a general medical education, which provides them with strong foundations in the basic and social sciences essential to the practice of medicine, as well as professional attitudes and clinical skills, all with a focus on launching a lifetime of continuous learning. Through the M.D. or joint degree programs or the Academic Research
Track, the School is dedicated to providing an outstanding start to any of the multiple career options in medicine today, from clinical care to research to academic leadership roles.
The School is committed to respect for the individual, community involvement, and collegiality, both within the medical profession and across all health professions, in the many curricular and extracurricular activities supported by the School. Emphasis is placed on active student-centered learning, on high levels of integration across the curriculum, and on curriculum management based on competencies, learning objectives, and outcomes. From problem based learning to clerkships, students learn how to formulate hypothesis-driven questions and develop the research skills to find the answers. In our curriculum, students teach fellow students and members of the health care team as well as patients. Community volunteer service and service learning are key components of our program underscoring the institutions long tradition of public health and service to diverse populations. The URSMD is committed to setting the highest standards in medical education and serving as a national model for innovation and continuous improvement in medical student education.
Objectives
The ultimate objective for University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry students is professional competence in all areas. When this is achieved, excellence is attained. The excellence sought is not only that perceived by the students and faculty, but by external measures as well. Under our university’s motto of “Meliora” (always better), we seek to provide a medical education that encourages striving for excellence throughout their careers.
Areas of professional competence we emphasize include:
- Knowledge of core concepts and principles of biological sciences from molecular to systems levels.
- Knowledge of social sciences basic to medicine and skills needed to provide care to culturally, ethnically and ecologically diverse populations.
- Possession of a deep foundation of information about clinical diseases basic to medicine, including not only disease pathogenesis and treatment, but also health maintenance and disease prevention.
- Dedication to life-long learning: the ability to formulate scientific and clinical questions. Possession of the skills to identify resources to answer those questions as well as remaining current in their field of medicine.
- Research skills to formulate a hypothesis and outline an experimental design to gather data to test the hypothesis.
- Proficiency in clinical reasoning, with skills in the scientific methods underlying clinical problem solving, including the retrieval, management, and appropriate use of biomedical information for decision-making--traits essential to the life-long learner.
- Exquisite sensitivity to human differences, with an understanding of the impact of individual values, gender, ethnic and cultural background, socioeconomic factors, sexual orientation, and ecology relevant to the practice of medicine.
- Sophistication in ethical reasoning as it applies to all aspects of medical practice, but particularly in the difficult issues surrounding care at the end of life.
- Systems based practice with an ability to work effectively as part of a health care team, with appreciation for the multiple contributions of other health care professionals and agencies to the health of the individual and of the community.
- Appreciation for social responsibility, sustainability and a commitment to volunteerism.
- Development as physicians who teach, not only patients and their families, but also students, residents, colleagues and society at large.
- Self-awareness and caring for personal health and well being. Good habits and skills for lifelong learning to ensure the practice of evidence-based medicine and for continued evolution – as medicine evolves – as a reflective, resilient, and sensitive practitioner.
- Dedication to the highest standards of professional integrity, humanism and exemplary behavior.
