The Motor Systems Miniblock describes the components of the motor systems in the cerebral cortex, the basal ganglia, the cerebellum and the spinal cord in relation to behavior of the organism. The Integrative Systems Miniblock deals with the hypothalamus, the limbic system and the reticular formation and their relation to behavior. The Higher Functions Miniblock presents some cellular mechanisms and regional localization of components of cognitive processing by the brain. In the new revised curriculum, teaching of pharmacology by discipline is replaced by blocks of instruction created by a committee structure appointed by the Dean. Each block is led by a team that has created an interdisciplinary course relating to specific organ systems.
Pharmacology appears as a component of the organ based blocks in the second year curriculum.
Some of the material is given in a lecture format but much of the material has been incorporated into case based sessions in which students learn the basic sciences in the context of a clinical case by developing learning issues and reporting the results of their readings and library research in small group sessions with a faculty facilitator. Other modalities used to teach pharmacology include patient oriented problem solving sessions, conferences and videotapes. There are 45 hours of lecture and 17 hours of small group teaching exclusive of the case based sessions. Basic principles of pharmacology including pharmacokinetics and receptor theory are introduced in the first block on Infection and Immunity. Pharmacologic agents that are used to treat infectious disease and that modify the immune system are presented in this block.