As the home of the biopsychosocial model, this institution more than any other embodies the finest traditions of competent and compassionate care. We begin with an appreciation that our students arrive as mature adult learners and we encourage students to pursue independent study and research in areas of their own special interest. The focus of our educational program is not merely the transfer of information, but the transformation of the learner in a culture providing that ingenious combination of support and challenge which leads to education. The Double Helix Curriculum captures the integrated strands of basic science and clinical medicine as they are woven throughout the four-year curriculum. Preparation for a Lifetime of Learning The new Rochester curriculum is uniquely designed to train lifelong learners of medicine.
Special emphasis is placed on skills acquisition and use.
Sensitivity to the world of the patient is encompassed in the biopsychosocial integration of the curriculum and the learning experience. By ensuring adequate and early electivity for students to enhance their special interests, the Double Helix Curriculum generates a knowledge base characterized by depth, breadth, rigor, and flexibility. Unlike the early clinical exposure of any other school, the clinical skills training from day one leads not to shadowing experiences in clinics, but to the start of real clinical work as part of the health care team while still in the first year. Every course has learning objectives, a plan for enabling students to meet those objectives and appropriate assessment instruments to ensure that students have met the objectives. Emphasis is on integrated exams and evaluation formats that assess preparation, participation, critical thinking skills, knowledge application to problem solving, and professionalism.