Page 3 of 5

New curricular experiences emphasize
team-based approaches and new technology
in patient care
 

A major part of the foundation’s gift will be used to make
enhancements to our curricula, recognizing that health care is
delivered in new ways. The current curricula already contain a strong
and unique emphasis on communication and patient-centered care.

“Our students start in clinical practice almost from day one of
medical school,” said Jack Brose, D.O., Assistant Provost. Hospitals
and preceptors often observe that OU-HCOM students are “very
comfortable with patients and they’re more likely to sit down next to a
patient, put their arm around a patient’s shoulder and have that really
hands-on medical care that patients so appreciate.”

With funding from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation’s gift, OU-HCOM
becomes one of the first medical schools in the country to build
patient-centered medical care (PCMC) concepts into the curriculum.

According to Richard Snow, D.O., vice president of clinical
effectiveness at OhioHealth, PCMC focuses on the patients in the
health care system “with the highest need.” This means medical
students will learn to address the full cycle of care required by patients
with chronic disease, the leading cause of death and disability in the
U.S. Furthermore, training in PCMC “is an opportunity for OU-HCOM
to provide students with skills that will be sought after in the
healthcare marketplace.”

The college intends to augment the patient-centered approach
with curricular enhancements designed to build greater competency
in evaluating and implementing research findings—and making use of
health information technology tools—into patient care.
Snow describes how it will soon be essential to know how to use
electronic medical records not just for patient history but to gather
data for disease-specific registries and comparative assessments. New
medical informatics training will allow graduates to gather evidence
and provide measurably improved patient care.

Integrating PCMC into the curricular tracks initiates a cultural change
in the medical community that removes the “independent silos of medical
care” that characterizes much of today’s medical system, said Dr. Witmer.
Based on the burgeoning “patient-centered medical home” model, PCMC
embraces a style of care in which physicians and specialists engage in
team based care coordination. Medical students will work alongside multiple
physicians and allied health care providers in clinical simulations that
model multidisciplinary management of the patient.

This cultural change is a concept that “fits well into the osteopathic
philosophy,” said Dr. Witmer. By instilling these values in students
early in their education “it becomes an expectation of students” as they
emerge into clinical practice, a field transformed by new technology
and team-based approaches to patient care.

Rural and Urban Scholarship Program