About the school

Pittsburgh Medical School has always challenged the brightest and best-prepared minds. At the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, we created a curriculum to teach and train doctors to be better prepared to handle the realities of a new era in medicine. Our curriculum places emphasis on both the science and the humanity of medicine throughout all four years of your study. It begins with a basic trust-that every patient is a person first, every student is a peer, and that healing demands a full and present response from everyone involved. We sustain ourselves and our commitment to this revolutionary Person-to-Person approach by practicing on each other.

Academics

As a medical student, you've accepted the challenge of learning a profession that's fast reinventing itself. The goal is to master the art of learning itself. The study of medicine is the study of relationships. Each course, sequence and year builds on your growing understanding of the human body and its interrelationships at every level. Throughout your four years in medical school, you will read about and experience the connections between basic science concepts, clinical practice and a range of interventions and therapeutics. You will gradually learn to see, feel, hear and think medically in real-time, while you juggle the responsibility of tracking and treating patients.

MS-1

Patient, Physician & Society Block (PPS)

• Introduction to Being a Physician
• Ethics, Law & Professionalism
• Health, Illness & Behavior

Fundamentals of Basic Science Block (FBS)

• Medical Anatomy
• Cell & Tissue Physiology
• Human Genetics
• Fuel Metabolism
• Immunology in Health & Disease
• Medical Microbiology

Organ Systems Pathophysiology Block (OSP)

• Neuroscience
• Introduction to Psychiatry

Introduction to Patient Care Block (IPC)

• HIPAA Training for Medical Students
• Medical Interviewing
• Introduction to Physical Examination
• Advanced Physical Examination
• Clinical Experiences

Scientific Reasoning & Medicine Block (SRM)

• Introduction to Medical Decision Making
• Methods & Logic in Medicine
• Scholarly Project

MS-2

Patient Physician & Society Block Basic Science of Care

Organ Systems Pathophysiology Block

• Introduction to Pathobiology
• Body Fluid Homeostasis Block
• Digestion & Nutrition
• Hematology
• Endocrine
• Reproductive & Developmental Biology
• Pharmacology
• Integrated Case Studies

Introduction to Patient Care Block Advanced Physical Examination 2 Clinical Experiences 2 Scientific Reasoning in Medicine Block Methods & Logic in Medicine 2

MS-3

Clinical Competency Assessment (CCA)

• Class of 2006 Clinical Competency Assessment Schedule
• Class of 2006 Clinical Competency Assesssment Registration
• Class of 2006 Clinical Competency Assesssment Oriention Handbook

Acting Internship

An acting internship (sub-internship) of four-week duration is required during the senior year. An A.I. is a clinical rotation offered on an in-patient service where one or more attending physicians have overall responsibility for coordinated patient care. The service will be structured with both attending staff and house staff. The acting internship should include the assignment to the student of specific groups of patients upon whom he/she completes an initial history and physical examination, constructs a differential diagnosis, formulates a treatment plan, writes orders and carries out necessary therapy, all under careful supervision. Acting Internships that fulfill this requirement are offered in

• Family Medicine
• Internal Medicine
• Pediatrics
• Surgery

Acting internships in other departments or out of the city will not fulfill the "AI" requirement.

Integrated Life Science Course

This four week elective is designed to revisit the basic sciences through specially designed courses. All students are required to schedule one course from the following selections:

• Science of Resuscitation
• Clinical Pharmacology
• Neoplasia and Neoplastic Disease
• Clinical Neurosciences
• Infectious Disease in Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine
• Molecular Medicine
• Surgical Integrated Life Sciences