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Medical Education Program Objectives

Patient Care

Provide patient-centered care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective for the treatment of health problems and the promotion of health.

  • Gather essential and accurate information about patients and their conditions through history-taking, physical examination, and the use of laboratory data, imaging, and other tests.
  • Interpret laboratory data, imaging studies, and other tests as required for the area of practice.
  • Make informed decisions about diagnostic and therapeutic interventions based on patient information and preferences, up-to-date scientific evidence, and clinical judgment.
  • Develop and carry out well-organized patient management plans that support safe, effective, and efficient care for both emergent and chronic conditions as well as for preventive care.
  • Counsel and educate patients and their families to empower them to participate in their care and to enable shared decision making.
  • Demonstrate competence in routine medical and diagnostic procedures.
  • Provide appropriate patient referrals, ensuring continuity of care throughout transitions and following up on patient progress and outcomes.
  • Model behavior that upholds professional standards and prioritizes optimal patient care.

Knowledge for Practice

Demonstrate knowledge of established and evolving biomedical, clinical, epidemiological and social-behavioral sciences, as well as the application of this knowledge to patient care.

  • Demonstrate an investigatory and analytic approach to clinical situations.
  • Apply sound biomedical principles to health care for patients and populations.
  • Apply principles of clinical sciences to diagnostic and therapeutic decision-making, clinical problem-solving, and other aspects of evidence-based health care.
  • Apply principles of epidemiological sciences to the identification of health problems, risk factors, treatment strategies, resources, and disease prevention/health promotion efforts for patients and populations.
  • Apply principles of social-behavioral sciences to provision of patient care, including assessment of the impact of psychosocial and cultural influences on health and disease and, also, considering the impact of patient attitudes toward seeking and receiving care.

Practice-Based Learning and Improvement

Demonstrate the ability to investigate and evaluate one’s care of patients, to appraise and assimilate scientific evidence, and to continuously improve patient care based on constant self-evaluation and life-long learning.

  • Demonstrate a commitment to life-long learning and continuous improvement of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Make use of self-evaluation and feedback from others to identify strengths and deficiencies, and access appropriate information sources for self-improvement.
  • Systematically assess quality improvement needs and potential corrective actions with a goal of implementing change to improve practice.
  • Continually appraise scientific evidence from multiple sources. Appropriately implement new knowledge, standards, technologies, and services to manage the health problems of patients, populations, and communities and to improve outcomes.
  • Participate in the education of patients, families, students, trainees, peers and other health professionals.

Interpersonal and Communication Skills

Demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that result in the effective exchange of information and collaboration with patients, families, and health professionals.

  • Demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills in interactions with patients, families, and the public that uphold ethical and professional standards. Communicate effectively across a broad range of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds and across diverse settings, including difficult conversations such as end of life, delivery of bad news, and disclosure of errors.
  • Communicate effectively with other health care professionals, health related agencies, and within a health care team.
  • Maintain comprehensive and timely medical records that support effective communication.

Professionalism

Demonstrate a commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities and an adherence to ethical principles.

  • Demonstrate compassion, integrity, and respect, and uphold the privacy, dignity, and autonomy of patients.
  • Demonstrate accountability to patients, society, and the profession that supersedes self-interest.
  • Demonstrate sensitivity and responsiveness to a diverse patient population, including but not limited to diversity in gender, age, culture, race, religion, disabilities, and sexual orientation.
  • Demonstrate a commitment to ethical principles pertaining to provision or withholding of care, confidentiality, informed consent, and business practices, including compliance with relevant laws, policies, and regulations. 

Systems-Based Practice

Demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and system of health care, as well as the ability to call effectively on other resources in the system to provide optimal health care.

  • Coordinate effective patient care in various health care delivery settings and systems.
  • Advocate for quality patient care and optimal patient care systems, including considerations of cost awareness and risk-benefit analysis.
  • Recognize weaknesses in the health care delivery system and causes of medical errors and demonstrate an understanding of corrective actions.

Interprofessional Collaboration

Demonstrate the ability to engage in an interprofessional team in a manner that optimizes safe, effective patient- and population-centered care.

  • Work with other health professionals to establish and promote patient- and community-centered care that is effective and equitable and that upholds professional standards.
  • Communicate with other health professionals to support health maintenance and disease treatment in individual patients and populations.

Personal and Professional Development

Demonstrate the qualities required to sustain lifelong personal and professional growth.

  • Employ self-awareness, self-care mechanisms, and appropriate help-seeking behaviors to manage stress and to balance personal and professional responsibilities.
  • Recognize the changing nature of health care and its inherent ambiguities and utilize appropriate strategies to manage uncertainty and adapt to change.
  • Demonstrate dependability, integrity, and professional composure in interactions with patients, families, and the health care team.
     

Approved by the Committee on Undergraduate Medical Education, February 18, 2019

May 26, 2022