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The Continuum offers an exciting
experience in medical education that exposes students to experiences in
clinical settings concurrent with instruction in biomedical sciences. The PCC approaches medical learning as a
continual process with no
separation between the clinical and basic sciences. Each subject, from
physiology to immunology to osteopathic medicine, is treated as an
integral part in assessing a total patient. Students will
use this training in weekly
clinical sessions starting in the first week of school.
For this reason, students in the PCC will find themselves having early,
extensive experiences to learn how to think like, act like, and BE an
osteopathic physician.
Problem-based learning is a fundamental aspect of the PCC,
greatly reducing the number of hours spent in a large lecture setting.
In this curriculum, clinical case studies function as the focus of
learning, incorporating emerging educational technologies to supplement
the learning process. Students meet regularly with a faculty tutor in a
small group (6-9) to discuss a clinical case study that incorporates
both basic and clinical science topics. Training is supplemented by
resource hours and problem sets with faculty content specialists, along
with laboratory instruction in gross anatomy, and microanatomy.
Together, these elements encourage students to develop an integrated
basic science knowledge base from which to approach clinical cases.
Students also spend half a day in an actual clinical setting each week.
The PCC emphasizes the students’
responsibility in the learning process, fostering active learning and
critical thinking skills over memorization and regurgitation of facts.
This approach to learning provides several opportunities. First,
students are challenged with actual problems encountered by physicians
to develop clinical reasoning.
Second, students learn to integrate essential information from a variety
of sources. Finally, students develop interpersonal and group
skills as well as life-long learning skills on the first day of medical
school.
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Rationale
The
Patient-Centered-Continuum is OU-COM’s response to several basic needs
in osteopathic medical education. Implementation of the PCC allows
students an innovative choice in medical education to adult learning
styles, interests and abilities. Moreover, the College is committed to
fostering a curriculum that reflects the osteopathic holistic philosophy
by providing the best educational programs possible for the preparation
of competent osteopathic physicians. Finally, the PCC has been designed
to integrate not only the spectrum of topics necessary for medical
practice upon graduation, but also to prepare cohorts of professionals
with life-long learning skills to address the needs of the future.
The cornerstone of the Patient-Centered-Continuum
is its problem-based approach to learning. Contrary to traditional
medical education programs in which student learning confined to large
and impersonal lectures, a problem-based approach advocates that
students learn best when they associate new information with concrete
clinical problems. Students explore the basic science content by
discussing and hypothesizing about clinical problems. The
rationale is that the objective of medical education is to prepare
physicians who are able to evaluate and manage patients with medical
problems effectively, efficiently, and humanely. Immersing students in clinical
problems from the beginning offers a more logical approach to emulate
and develop the types of skills, attitudes, and applied knowledge that
will help physicians accomplish the goals of their medical education.
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Basic tenets of
problem-based learning that are emphasized by the PCC are:
1. Active participation in the
learning process produces longer-lasting effects than passive
absorption of information.
2.
Student-centered instruction facilitates capitalizing on student’s
experience and enhances motivation for self-directed learning.
3. A
problem-based approach to medical education facilitates the
development of collaborative skills by the student without stifling
his/her individual responsibility.
4. The rapidly-expanding nature of
medical knowledge renders it too vast to be effectively taught by
formal means of lectures and compartmentalized courses. By using
clinical problems to approach content information, students learn
critical thinking and problem-solving skills that enable them to
keep up with the professional demands experienced by osteopathic
physicians.
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The PCC curriculum
fosters the development of clinical reasoning strategies in the ability
to handle uncertainty and multiplicity of possibilities, characteristics
of the day-to-day practice of the osteopathic physician. Such emphasis
enhances the hypothetical-deductive skills of learners as they approach
problems without preconceived ideas about causes, symptoms, and
treatments. The program encourages students to seek information from
many strong sources as are available. The PCC track also fosters the
development of clinical skills necessary to an osteopathic approach
through the spectrum of medical education--from the first day of medical
school, providing the continued medical education
efforts needed for advanced professional development. As such, the PCC
student acquires a breadth and depth of experience to enable
successfully entry into the residency program of his or her choosing.
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PCC:
a curriculum approach that best serves osteopathic medical education.
Finally, the PCC offers a curricular approach that serves
osteopathic medical education with a holistic approach to patient
care. Through small group tutorials, resource hours and problem
sets, clinical skills labs and an emphasis on early clinical
contact, the PCC offers innovative strategies to address clinical
problems with the “whole person” in mind. In addition, the PCC
promotes one of the most dynamic and successful contributions of
osteopathic medicine to medical education: the
preceptorship experience. The curriculum offers contact with
practicing physicians throughout the whole program. These clinical
experiences provide students with a practical perspective on
osteopathic medicine via contacts with real-life patients from the
beginning of medical education, at the same time promoting
professional development through contacts with role- models and
mentors among the practicing physicians community.
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