A Tale of Two Curricula

     The learning environment at the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-COM) is grounded in the principles of adult learning, particularly student empowerment and clinical relevance.  As an OU-COM student, you have the choice of studying in one of two tracks – the Patient-Centered Continuum (PCC) curriculum or the Clinical Presentation Continuum (CPC) curriculum.  Both curricula view medical education as an organized building process that extends from the first day of medical school through residency training and beyond.  Students in both curricula begin interacting with real patients in the first weeks of their medical education.

     The PCC is a student-directed curricular approach that relies upon a case-based learning format and places emphasis on small group discussions, case analysis, collaborative learning and problem solving as its primary educational tools. 

     The CPC curriculum provides students with opportunities to learn the biomedical science fundamentals of medicine in an integrated, clinically relevant environment.  This faculty-directed curriculum uses the most common and/or important symptoms that patients present to primary care providers as its organizing focus.

     The chart below compares and contrasts the PCC and the CPC curricula.

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