As a summary, the first year of medical school includes gross anatomy/embryology, histology, biochemistry and molecular biology, molecular genetics, physiology, neurosciences, microbiology and the Clinical Foundation course. Basic science course directors work together to ensure an integrated course of study. The neurosciences course, developed by the Departments of Physiology & Biophysics and Anatomy & Neurobiology, includes small group discussions, computer-assisted learning and wet labs. The second year includes pathology, clinical pathology, pharmacology, mechanisms of disease and the continuation of the Clinical Foundations course.

After completing your PhD, your "third year" in medical school is spent in clerkships in Internal Medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics & gynecology, surgery, psychiatry & human behavior, physical medicine & rehabilitation and primary care. The fourth year includes anesthesiology, ophthalmology, neurosciences, radiology, medicine, surgical subspecialties, substance abuse and 22 weeks of electives. Students also are provided ample opportunity to participate in clinical and research elective courses of their choosing.

The Clinical Foundations course, which continues for all four years, offers students early exposure to clinical medicine and involves the use of patients and patient surrogates. In the first year, students develop basic communication and interviewing skills. They obtain and document systematic, uncomplicated health histories on adult patients in ambulatory settings. The students develop advanced interviewing skills by obtaining and documenting a systematic health history on diverse and high-risk patient populations, including patients with language barriers, mental disadvantages, alternative life styles, advanced age or victimization by domestic violence. Year two of the Clinical Foundations course is a multidisciplinary undertaking incorporating ethics, nutrition, human sexuality, epidemiology & biostatistics, behavioral science & toxicology, geriatrics, genetics, and physical examination courses including examination of the patient. The course, which is based on problem-oriented small group learning concepts, incorporates essential learning objectives from the basic science courses. Each module includes surrogate interviews, discussions with experts, physical examination demonstration sessions, real-patient examinations with healthy patients, physical exam patient rotation sessions and protected self-study time. Year three includes an introduction to the clerkships and primary care modules, which serves to ensure that all students are exposed to a core curriculum of basic clinical problems. Year four consists of clinicopathologic correlation sessions to emphasize the basic concepts underlying the clinical conditions that students see on the wards.

Please see the UCI SOM website for the latest information about the curriculum at:

http://www.ucihs.uci.edu/som/meded/elective/