Across all four years, the UCF M.D. program curriculum integrates the 3 major domains needed to become a physician: Basic Sciences, Clinical Sciences and Health System Sciences. During the first two pre-clerkship years, the Integrated Sciences Courses bring these 3 domains together in a system-based approach. After introducing the students to basic processes in a Foundations Course, each of these system-based courses takes the students through the study of normal processes, clinical disease, pathological processes, and treatment. In concert with these aspects of medicine, the Clinical Sciences Domain will introduce to the students the skills needed to communicate with their patients in a culturally sensitive manner, perform a physical examination and then bring that information together with the knowledge of the Basic Sciences Domain to develop their clinical reasoning skills. Through the Health Systems Sciences Domain, students will integrate topics such as medical ethics, patient safety, medical informatics, and systems thinking into all aspects of their interaction with and care of patients.
The third and fourth years of the curriculum are devoted to clinical experience through clerkships, selectives, and electives. To continue the emphasis on the 3 domains needed to become a physician, the clinical curriculum provides practical patient experiences complemented by basic science lectures, simulations, journal clubs, and conferences throughout the six core clerkships.
Overall, the four-year medical curriculum at UCF is designed to fully integrate the Basic Sciences, Clinical Sciences and Health System Sciences Domains to provide students with appreciation of cultural diversity and the need for sensitivity in treating patients, foster professionalism in all interactions, and ignite a passion for life-long learning.
The UCF M.D. program curriculum fully integrates basic and clinical sciences across all four years. The first two years of the curriculum are structured into modules, with the first year focusing on a fundamental understanding of how the various basic science disciplines relate to the normal human body. The second year takes an organ system-based approach and applies the basic knowledge of the first year to the study of clinical disease, pathological processes, and treatment. In concert with these aspects of medicine, the curriculum also covers psychosocial issues, cultural differences, communication skills, and physical diagnosis skills as they relate to the different topics in medicine.
The third and fourth years of the curriculum are devoted to clinical experience through clerkships, selectives, and electives. The clinical curriculum provides practical patient experiences complemented by basic science lectures, simulations, journal clubs, and conferences throughout the six core clerkships. Integrated throughout all four years of the M.D. program, Longitudinal Curricular Themes (LCT’s) will emphasize critical aspects of medicine and medical care that are not addressed in the basic core curriculum. The LCT’s include Ethics and Humanities, Gender-Based Medicine, Medical Informatics, Lifestyle Medicine, Geriatrics and Principles of Palliative Care, Culture, Health and Society, and Patient Safety. Each of these themes will be highlighted when appropriate in the core curriculum and reinforced through a variety of interactive experiences.
Overall, the four-year medical curriculum at UCF is designed to fully integrate basic science and clinical medicine, provide students with appreciation of cultural diversity and the need for sensitivity in treating patients, foster professionalism in all interactions, and ignite a passion for life-long learning.