UCSF's New Curriculum: A more effective way to learn?

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Universal Coverage

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Curriculums that are still very traditional and lecture based still make great doctors of course, like at Stanford and Columbia. But I see the trend now is towards more interdisciplinary learning, organ systems, case based learning, less class time, more early patient contact, etc. If you are at UCSF, do you feel your new curriculum is a slightly better way to learn medicine? By better I mean more efficient and effective? Do you retain information better? Are you more inspired by seeing clinical applications? Do you learn less useless details? You still work really hard, but does the new curriculum in essence make medical school easier --less stress and study time than at more traditional schools because it's more efficient and you can focus more on the big picture, less on excessive detail? What are the cons of less class time and getting out of class by 12:00? Do you just have to learn more of the material on your own? How often do you have midterms or do you just have a final? Do you think that's a good exam policy?

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OHSU has a similar curriculum. You should ask people up there too.
 
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Hi there--

I just finished med school at North Dakota, and our class was taught using the "new curriculum" format you described for UCSF. We had 8-10 hours/week of basic science lecture in the AMs and about 4-6 hours/week of some touchy-feely (ethics, insurance coverage, psych) lectures in the PMs. The basic science and even some of the touchy-feely stuff was emphasized by the use of "paper patients" with a disease process which brought out the important points. We spent about 6 hours/week in small student groups working through the paper patient cases. We would have four exam cycles per year (about every 10 weeks).

Pros: less time sitting in class
the paper patients added immediacy to the lectures
good practice in identifying items for study
increased early patient exposure--our clinical preceptors were pleased with our preparation
increased understanding of basic medical tests and procedures
testing format (once every 10 weeks) encouraged actual learning, and not rote memorization; also good practice for shelf exams and the USMLEs (everything rides on one test cycle)

Cons: testing format induced sheer panic during the first year (everything rides on one test cycle!!)
lack of traditional structure made it difficult to know whether all important lecture points had been made--especially in more formal subjects like microbiology and pharmacology

Overall, I was very happy with the new format, the more so as I got into the clinical years and realized how appropriate the patient-based format actually was. And our class fared about the same in Step I as previous traditionally-educated classes had...and our Step II scores, rumor has it, have been significantly better. So while it was scarier to go through, I think the less structured format is better. I hope this very long-winded post helps, even though I can't comment on UCSF specifically.

Best of luck--

SMS
 
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Originally posted by Universal Coverage
Curriculums that are still very traditional and lecture based still make great doctors of course, like at Stanford and Columbia. But I see the trend now is towards more interdisciplinary learning, organ systems, case based learning, less class time, more early patient contact, etc. If you are at UCSF, do you feel your new curriculum is a slightly better way to learn medicine?

It was one of the main reasons why I wanted to go here so badly. Organ based, integrated with lectures (covering physio, anatomy, histo, path, pathophys/med, pharm, epi, psych, behavior, etc.), small groups, and problem based learning. UCSF isn't the only one doing this, but we also look forward to really really strong clinical training during our second/third year.

By better I mean more efficient and effective? Do you retain information better? Are you more inspired by seeing clinical applications? Do you learn less useless details?

I think I am retaining info pretty well. I think getting the whole picture in one block affords you the opportunity to think in terms of patients, cases, etc. Our exams are written in case format, so they are a bit more interesting and exciting than all of the exams that I remember from undergrad and grad school. I actually learn some things on my exams. Clinical applications are very inspiring, and I do think that they have distilled a lot of knowledge so that we aren't learning tons of info that isn't applicable to evidence based medicine, clinical research, etc.

You still work really hard, but does the new curriculum in essence make medical school easier --less stress and study time than at more traditional schools because it's more efficient and you can focus more on the big picture, less on excessive detail?

See above answer.

What are the cons of less class time and getting out of class by 12:00?

There aren't any.

Do you just have to learn more of the material on your own?

Our syllabi are very comprehensive. Most lecturers do a very good job at following the syllabus. If they don't, you read it on your own. Lots of people don't attend lecture and read the syllabus. Small groups and PBL are mandatory, however, so everyone goes to them. Lots of learning happens in those groups for the most part.

How often do you have midterms or do you just have a final? Do you think that's a good exam policy?

It depends on the size of the block. However, since September we have had two written and two lab practicals in Prologue (the first 9 weeks), two exams in Cardiovascular (6 weeks), one exam in Pulmonary (3 weeks), one exam in Renal (3 weeks), and one written and one lab practical in Head and Neck (1 week). I think it is a great policy. We never have exam weeks, we'll never have exams back to back (except written and lab practicals, but that is done), and our exams are testing all the basic sciences together in a clinically-directed fashion. I love it. Oh yeah, strictly P/F with no hidden rankings.

Hope this answers your questions.

Souljah.
 
We don't always get out by noon, though. I usually have 2 afternoons completely free a week, and three where I need to be in class. That's because we don't always start at 8, and have 24 hours of class a week. Other than that, I would echo what Souljah said.
 
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