SUNY Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine

Academics

4-year semitraditional. First and second years: Cover the basic medical sciences and include free half-days throughout the first 2 years for electives, correlation clinics in the second year to show relationships of basic sciences to clinical work, and introduction to patients during second-year Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Track. Second-year curriculum organized into organ system approach. Third year: Clerkship rotation in the major clinical specialties. Fourth year: Individualized selective programs making available a variety of courses and clinical experiences. The primary goal of the curriculum is to prepare competent physicians as general or specialty practitioners, researchers, or medical administrators or academicians. Students are expected to gain an understanding of health and its promotion and of disease prevention. The students will become proficient in basic clinical skills such as history taking, the performance of comprehensive physical and mental health examinations, and interpreting the findings. Competence in the performance of basic procedures is also expected. The curriculum is undergoing a major revision stimulated by the change in the organization and practice of medicine, the explosion of new scientific and clinical information, the desire to integrate basic and clinical sciences throughout the four years of medical training, and the need for an earlier exposure to patient care.