Undergraduate Medical Education

First Year

The biomedical sciences portion of the curriculum is approximately 72 weeks in duration. The first year curriculum runs from August through March and is devoted to the courses of Prevention, Community and Culture; Doctoring: Recognizing Signs and Symptoms; Gross Anatomy; Molecular Basis of Disease; and Physiology.

The first year format consists primarily of basic science activities in the General Education Building. Approximately twenty hours weekly are devoted to scheduled activities.  

Fall and Spring Semesters

111 DRS - Doctoring: Recognizing Signs and Symptoms (3 credit hours). This introductory course in the art and science of patient care is presented in five block-weeks throughout the fall and spring semesters. DRS is a hands-on course that introduces skills such as patient communication, medical history-taking, physical examination, case presentation, and chart documentation. Also presented are basic skills in recognition and interpretation of signs and symptoms of health and disease. Learning activities include interactive small group sessions with upper class students and clinical faculty, and a community preceptor experience with a practicing physician in the Memphis area. Assessment of clinical skills is by participation in learning activities, written assignments modeling patient charting, and ratings on observed standardized patient encounters at the end of the spring semester.

111 PCC - Prevention, Community, and Culture (3 credit hours). This curriculum introduces patient care through cases structured along a preventive medicine theme. The course also includes human behavior issues, ethics, professionalism, alternative and complementary medicine, nutrition, and epidemiology. The case discussions occur in small groups facilitated by clinicians and require self-directed learning, synthesis of information, and presentation skills. In addition, a community (service learning) project is required in which the student will learn the challenges of community organizations in providing services for clients. The course is taught in five week-long blocks spanning the first year.

PCC and DRS are components of a longitudinal curriculum that spans all four years.

111 GA - Human Gross Anatomy (7 credit hours). A study of the gross anatomical structure of the human body by means of complete dissection supplemented by lectures and the study of cross sections. Human embryology is included in the program.

111 MBD - Molecular Basis of Disease (9 credit hours). MBOD is an integrated course covering the principles of biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, and molecular biology, with an emphasis on clinical applications. The course focuses on the basic interdisciplinary concepts underlying modern biomedical science. The principles of medical genetics are woven throughout the course giving the student a basic and practical fund of knowledge that can be used in the clinical clerkships. The course is a blend of lectures, clinical correlations (some involving patients), small group problem-solving sessions, and large group conferences.

123 PHYS - Medical Physiology (9 credit hours). Integrated histology and general organology with the functioning of the human body is considered, ranging from cellular to higher organ-system levels. Lectures are supplemented with weekly or biweekly conference meetings of small groups of students with individual faculty for demonstrations, special clinical correlations, and problem-solving exercises. 

Beginning in the spring of the first academic year, students are exposed to basic concepts in Immunology which is a part of Microbiology, Neurosciences, Pathology and Pharmacology. These four courses continue into the second year with credit awarded at the completion of the entire course.

212 MICR - Medical Microbiology (6 credit hours). A course that presents the concepts of immunology and immunity, the basic aspects of microbial morphology, growth metabolism and genetics, the actions of anti-microbial agents, and the role of microorganisms in infectious diseases. Laboratory experiences complement and expand the didactic material. Grades are assigned in the spring semester of the second year.

212 NEUR - Neurosciences (7 credit hours). This is a lecture/laboratory course dealing with the anatomy and function of the central nervous system (CNS). The course includes the anatomy of the brain and spinal cord, location of nuclei and their interconnections, and the origin and termination of major fiber pathways in the CNS. Localizing neurology, disorders of cognitive function and the major classes of neurologic disease are discussed. Problem-solving sessions related to clinical application are emphasized. The course allows the student to achieve an understanding of a clinical approach to neurologic disease.

214 PATH - Pathology (9 credit hours). The course develops the principles of the discipline of pathology. Normal organologyand integrated histology are part of the course which presents disease by organ systems. The methods of instruction include lecture, laboratory experiences, demonstrations, and group discussions. Grades are assigned in the spring semester of the second year. 

222 PHA- Medical Pharmacology (6 credit hours). The medical student is introduced to the pharmacologic concepts of the action of drugs and other xenobiotics. The classification, mechanisms of action, and toxic effects of pharmacologic agents are stressed. Discussion of representative examples of major drug classes are emphasized, and treatment modalities, whenever appropriate, are presented. This basic course uses lectures, clinical correlative discussions, and independent study to assist the student in understanding pharmacologic therapy in the clinical phase of his/her medical education. Grades are assigned in the spring semester of the second year.