The student develops those critical, inquiring and innovative attitudes that will be prerequisites for leadership in clinical practice in the coming decades of rapid therapeutic advances. These same qualities are essential for successful academic careers in medical research and teaching, and Stanford maximizes its students' opportunities to build such careers. A rigorous and systematic training in the basic medical sciences is the groundwork for comprehensive instruction in clinical medicine.
Preclinical material is presented in the context of the scientific frontiers of the field.
Thus, the student's thinking is attuned to the constant expansion and refinement of biomedical knowledge. At the same time, every effort is made to enable interested students to gain experience in one or more of the many research programs that are a major strength of the school. We believe that research experience sharpens critical abilities and helps to shape an investigative and questioning approach to medicine that serves the student well in clinical practice. Exposure to research may well stimulate a continuing commitment to investigative work and so lead the student toward an academic career. A major attraction for medical students at Stanford is its flexible curriculum.