We're learning (by course content, they are all integrated): Pharmacology, Embryology, Histology, Immunology, Microbiology, Genetics, Biostats, Cell Bio and Biochem, Pathology, History of Medicine, Public/Community Health and VERY little Gross Anatomy and Physiology for the 1st semester....I was just wondering if it's a somewhat usual curriculum. Of course there are also Clinical Skills and small groups clinical problem solving sessions. But doesn't it seem a bit strange that we are expected to understand pathology before getting the anatomy or physiology down cold...or it's just me?
It depends. I went through a PBL system that didn't have a gross anatomy component until late in the first year. None of the phases without gross lab/readings actually needed a detailed knowledge of anatomy. Our curriculum before gross anatomy lab was Cellular Basis of Medicine, Developmental and Genetic Medicine, Host Defense, and Hematology. None of those really need a detailed knowledge of gross anatomy. We started gross with neuroanatomy during our Neurology phase. We continued gross lab and our assigned gross anatomy readings throughout the remainder of the first year and the duration of the second year (with exception to Infectious Diseases at the end of the second year). In retrospect, I'm glad we did it that way. The anatomy was easy to learn because we could apply it to the physiology and pathology that we were studying at the time.
