University of California San Diego (School of Medicine)

FIRST YEAR COURSES : * Cell Biology and Biochemistry : CBB is the first block course you will see, and it is the first building block in your professional career. It epitomizes the wisdom that a firm grounding in biological and biochemical mechanisms is crucial to the truly competent physician. The "readings" portion of CBB puts a small number of students together with a distinguished faculty member/biochemist for a dynamic exchange on the material just studied. If you have never experienced an undergraduate biochemical laboratory, you are strongly urged to enroll in the elective laboratory portion. From 1968 to the present, CBB has immersed the student in molecular and cellular principles, traversing the intact organism, down through the cell to the molecule, then back out again. Then you will look at the clinical correlates of these biologies. * Social and Behavioral Sciences : What do you say to patients who are ill or injured, highly suggestion-prone, overly helpful, ambiguous, and paranoid? How can you best ease the fright of these patients who have brought their suffering to you along with a variety of expectations, myths, stereotypes, and - perhaps most importantly - untapped emotions? During your first quarter at UCSD, you will begin to answer these questions through participation in exercises and small group discussions in the Doctor/Patient Relationship course, the first of four parts of the strip SBS sequence. SBS is a course which looks at the patient as a person, with all that implies, but also as a unique "biopsychosocial matrix," with a history and a future. SBS will, in its many modes of delivery, stress (1) that the most fluid and evanescent of intangibles - the doctor/patient relationship - to a large extent shapes the patient's suffering and its amelioration; (2) that illness is disharmony at any of three levels - biological, psychological, or social - which in turn disrupts the other two levels; (3) that developmental stages are a good way to look at the changing dynamics in a patient, be it childhood, adolescence, or aging; and (4) that the milieu in which the 'healing arrangement' takes place - the myths and symbols of the culture, the way money is organized and distributed, how the society views its deviant members, death, and sex - incorporates interested parties who refuse to stay out in the waiting room. They must be examined, and accounted for. * Principles of Pharmacology : Principles of Pharmacology is a course given in the fall, winter, and spring quarters of the first year. In the fall quarter, students learn the fundamentals of pharmacology and the autonomic nervous system. In the winter quarter with concepts in physiology, students learn the cardiovascular system, and smooth muscle, along with the principles of drug disposition. These are taught simultaneously with cardiovascular, renal, and gastrointestinal physiology. In the spring quarter, the pharmacology of central nervous system active drugs is taught parallel with basic neurology. * Organ Physiology : This is a demanding course because the subject matter is completely new to most medical students. The course deals in turn with the lung, heart, kidney, and gastrointestinal systems and runs parallel with the pharmacology course. Students can get considerable help from the new edition of the physiology textbook that is largely written by faculty teaching the organ physiology course. In addition, Dr. Nora Laiken, who is in charge of tutoring, is ready with supplementary notes and a helping hand for those who need further clarification. * Introduction to Clinical Medicine : This is a five-quarter course beginning in January of Year I. By the end of the first year, students will have learned to recognize symptoms and signs of disease and will have mastered a basic screening physical examination. Year II emphasizes basic skills of physicianship, including history taking, physical examination, complete patient write-ups, and oral case presentations. ICM provides a living lab for students to nurture the art of interviewing and diagnosing common disease syndromes in closely supervised bedside work, demonstrations, lectures and conferences. * Endocrinology-Reproduction-Metabolism : The touchstone of this course is the multi-faceted endocrine system and the hormones by which it regulates growth, sexual development, reproduction, reactions to stress, and many key metabolic processes. Metabolic disorders and poor diet patterns account for a great deal of disease in the U.S. This course covers obesity, diabetes mellitus, and hypercholesterolemia among the more prevalent such diseases. In addition to reproductive endocrinology, the course deals with basic physiology of reproduction, including conception, contraception, aspects of sexuality, and the physiology of pregnancy. * Basic Neurology : The brain is the center for our thinking and feeling. This course looks at everything from the fine structure of individual neurons to the complex anatomy and physiology of the human nervous system. Throughout the course, there is an ongoing consideration of the brain's higher functions (emotions, behavior) and of the disorders that interfere with the nervous system's normal performance (clinical neurology). To provide instruction of this scope, the course is managed by both basic and clinical neuroscientists. HUMAN ANATOMY Anatomy at UCSD's School of Medicine differs in several ways from the course of the same name traditionally found in America's med schools. First, it comes after students have already learned about bodily functions, after OP. Therefore, it can be taught as functional, practical anatomy, not only morphology. It is taught by a team of anatomists, surgeons, and radiologists in a setting that gives heightened emphasis to radiology. "It's important to use all the modern imaging methods to get a feeling for how the organs and tissues show up in those media, and to learn their relationships," says an involved faculty member. Anatomy is also one of the most popular of all courses here, perhaps because of the close personal contact between instructors and students in the small group seminars and the laboratory. HISTOLOGY Taught in conjunction with anatomy, this course is designed to teach the structural basis of normal and abnormal function at cellular and tissue levels. Emphasis is placed on microscopic study conducted in small laboratory groups under close faculty supervision. EPIDEMIOLOGY/ BIOSTATISTICS This course describes uses and limitations of biostatistical techniques and of epidemiology and population versus patient data. It includes terminology, study design and analysis, measures of risk, causality, screening, and current knowledge about the epidemiology of selected diseases/conditions and medical interventions. Case studies are used to emphasize understanding of the principles behind statistical tests and understanding statistical jargon used in the medical literature. HUMAN DISEASE This course provides the transition from the basic science curriculum to the clinical setting. It is designed to teach the principles of human disease and constitutes an integration of such separate subjects as pathology, pathophysiology, microbiology, and medical therapeutics. The beginning phase of the course focuses on the general principles of human disease, and subsequently, the course covers diseases of organ systems. Pathology and pathophysiology deal with causes, mechanisms, structure, and dynamics of diseases. Medical therapeutics addresses principles and some specifics of pharmacologic interventions that are helpful in altering the disease process. Microbiology, which rests on the assumption that living agents of disease are best studied in relation to reactions of the host, is closely coordinated with the same organ system approach. HEMATOLOGY This course, taught in the second year fall quarter mini-block, consists primarily of small group discussions and laboratories centered around clinical cases. You will cover the physiology and pathophysiology of blood cells and blood cell-forming organs. LABORATORY MEDICINE What are the general principles of laboratory data interpretation? This course covers a basic introduction to these principles and to the systematic use of laboratory tests in evaluating common clinical conditions. ELECTIVES Many medical schools do not provide students the opportunity to choose any part of their curriculum in the first two years, but this is definitely not the case at UCSD. Time for electives has been an integral part of the schedule since the school was founded. Throughout the pre-clinical curriculum, two afternoons each week are completely free and may be used for elective courses. The elective curriculum is as unstructured as the core curriculum is structured; myriad opportunities exist to explore areas ranging from the most basic to the cutting edge of science and technology. Clinical preceptorships* are plentiful and popular elective choices. Many students participate in elective community outreach efforts such as DOC (Doctors Ought to Care), teaching middle and high school students about AIDS, alcohol and drugs, or, the UCSD student run free clinic. Others use their elective experiences to learn to speak Spanish or to learn to take a medical history in Mandarin Chinese. There are electives about the politics of medicine, alternative medicine, and the history of medicine. A course in anatomic drawing might also be appealing, but if none of the formal offerings pique students' interest, students may approach any faculty member and design a reading or laboratory course. UCSD students appreciate the freedom and breadth of the elective curriculum, and participation in these courses has led to many memorable experiences. SECOND YEAR COURSES : * Hematology : This course covers the physiology and pathophysiology of blood cells and blood cell-forming organs. The format is primarily one of small group discussions of assigned readings and clinical case problems, and includes an introduction to blood cell morphology. * Human Anatomy : Human anatomy teaches the structural foundation needed for understanding normal and abnormal function. The course fits into the regional orientation of the second year, in contrast to the predominantly cellular-systemic orientation of the first. The use of fresh materials, inclusion and integration of radiology, correlation with the physical examination, and the major role of clinical teachers in the course permit teaching the subject as practical anatomy with all its clinical implications and applications. This orientation is further aided by the inclusion of embryology, a subject matter that supports the understanding of anomalies and of adult structure. Dissection is an important source of reference. Close student-faculty contact is available from a core of full-time faculty and from clinical specialists who teach in regions appropriate to their discipline. Seminars and discussion groups facilitate clinical problem-based learning. Videotapes, anatomical and surgical films, slide collections, casts, models, prepared dissections, and computer-based anatomical information support learning and encourage self-instruction. * Histology : The major objective of histology is to present the structural basis of normal histology essential for understanding the altered structure and function of cells, tissues and organs in disease. Students are expected to identify the specialized cells, tissues, and organs of the human body and understand the structural basis of their function. Emphasis is placed on microscopic study conducted in a small group laboratory setting supervised by the faculty and supplemented with MedPics, a computer-assisted image bank. This overview of normal histology is essential for understanding the altered structure and function of cells, tissues and organs in disease and is thus a prerequisite for the pathology component of human disease * Social and Behavioral Sciences-Introduction to Health Care Systems : This segment in the social and behavioral sciences course introduces students to the health care system and helps them define their roles and responsibilities within it. Discussions cover financing, organization, and quality of health care services and workforce issues. Relevant concepts from sociology, economics, anthropology and the law are utilized. Both health professionals and social scientists lecture in the weekly didactic sections and serve as seminar coordinators. * Epidemiology/Biostatistics : This course describes the uses and limitations of epidemiology and population versus patient data. It includes terminology, study design and analysis, measures of risk, causality, screening, and current knowledge about the epidemiology of selected diseases/conditions, and medical interventions. Also, it introduces medical statistics, probability theory in medical diagnosis, the evaluation of diagnostic tests, small sample statistics, the design of clinical trials, and confounding factors in medical studies using case studies in the medical literature. * Introduction to Clinical Medicine : In fall quarter of the second year of introduction to clinical medicine, the course is expanded to include history-taking and physical examination of patients with various disease processes. In this quarter, four weeks are devoted to history-taking alone, and a subsequent four weeks to the physical examination. Oral presentations and write-ups will be performed each week. * Human Disease : This course provides the transition from the basic science curriculum into the clinical setting. It is designed to teach principles of human disease, namely, causes, mechanisms, structure, and dynamics of diseases. Organizationally, the course constitutes an integration of separate subjects traditionally known as pathology, pathophysiology, microbiology, and medical therapeutics. It is taught throughout the entire span of both the winter and spring quarters. During the winter quarter, the course focuses initially on the general principles of disease, which includes introduction to pathology (cell injury, inflammation), immunopathology, and oncology. Subsequently, the course is organized on the basis of organ systems such as cardiovascular, respiratory, urinary, digestive, reproductive, endocrine, nervous, musculoskeletal, and integumentary systems. Medical therapeutics is integrated with organ system pathology/pathophysiology. Microbiology is closely coordinated with the organ system approach. An appropriate balance is maintained between lectures and small group instruction to encourage close faculty-student interaction. Laboratory instruction is augmented by MedPics, a computer-assisted image bank of diseases. * Social and Behavioral Sciences-Psychopathology : This segment will acquaint students with techniques of interviewing, concepts of mental illness and normality, basic research in causality of behavioral disorders, and approaches to treatment-all in the context of a bio-psycho-social frame of reference. Format combines a lecture followed by smaller group sessions with a faculty leader. The groups enable students to meet patients with behavioral disorders, to practice interviewing, to develop observational skills, and to discuss material presented in lectures and assigned readings. * Laboratory Medicine : This course is a basic introduction to laboratory medicine. Emphasis is placed on the general principles of the interpretation of laboratory data and on the systematic use of laboratory tests in the evaluation of the most common and important clinical conditions.

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School name: University of California San Diego (School of Medicine)
Address: 9500 Gilman Drive
Zip & city: CA 92093-0602 La Jolla
Phone: 858-534-0830
Web: http://medicine.ucsd.edu

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