Curriculum Core Competencies

Contribute to the development, application and translation of new medical knowledge through scholarly inquiry, research, discovery and dissemination.

• Use the scientific method to expand the understanding of biological and nonbiological, the causation of disease and efficacy of traditional and nontraditional therapies.
• Formulate a high-quality scholarly research question and hypothesis and/or project plan.
• Apply knowledge of clinical research design to answer a novel research question.
• Employ appropriate research methods to answer a specific investigative question; apply appropriate quantitative and qualitative analysis and statistical inferences to the resulting data.
• Disseminate new knowledge obtained from scientific inquiry.

Progressively increase perspective and experience with regional and global community and population health through technology and service-learning activities, working toward innovative solutions to system, community and population health problems.

• Monitor and evaluate regional and global trends in the delivery of health care, identifying those which hold promise to solve problems and drive innovation.
• Forecast opportunities and communicate regional and global trends in the delivery of health care and opportunities with stakeholders and team members.
• Apply a strategic perspective to problem-solving and decision-making related to community and population health problems/health care system.
• Demonstrate insight into situations, problems and possible solutions when required to support innovation and problem-solving related to community and population health problems/health care system.

Build, inspire and lead teams committed to innovation and improvement in health care.

• Compose vision and strategy, translate these into team goals and communicate these effectively to the team.
• Build engaged and committed teams; leverage their skills and strengths to innovate, accomplish goals and drive for results.
• Model flexibility in the context of change, help team members cope by explaining the rationale for change and acknowledge their concerns about change.
• Inspire and motivate team members to high levels of innovation, accountability and performance.
• Collaborate with team members to assess processes and outcomes against goals in continuous improvement cycles.

Obtain essential information from patient history and past medical records and perform physical exam.

• Obtain an accurate medical history that covers all essential aspects of the history, including issues related to age, gender, genetic background, environment and socioeconomic status.
• Conduct a thorough and accurate physical exam, including psychiatric, neurologic, genital and orthopaedic examinations in adults and children.

Synthesize information and use critical decision-making skills to identify and continually update a differential diagnosis, recognizing clinical emergencies.

• Interpret the most frequent clinical, laboratory, imaging and pathologic manifestations of common diseases and injuries.
• Formulate a differential diagnosis that incorporates scientific principles and sound clinical reasoning.

Construct appropriate management strategies for patients with common acute and chronic conditions, including medical, psychiatric and surgical conditions, and those requiring short- and long-term care.

• Formulate a treatment plan, demonstrating the ability to communicate the relative certainties of a differential diagnosis and the relative risks and benefits of outcomes and treatment options.
• Articulate an initial course of management for patients with serious conditions requiring critical care.
• Demonstrate the ability to assess and manage pain and promote comfort.
• Perform basic technical procedures used by physicians in clinical practice.
• Record clinical information and formulate orders directing the further care of the patient.

Demonstrate an understanding of the anatomy and function of the body.

• Describe the structure and function of the body and of each of its major organ systems, as well as how the systems integrate their functions to maintain homeostasis, recognizing anatomic and physiologic diversity across populations.
• Explain the molecular, biochemical and cellular mechanisms that are important in maintaining the body’s homeostasis.

Demonstrate and apply relevant scientific knowledge of the mechanisms of disease and of the consequences of abnormal physiology and anatomy.

• State the genetic, developmental, metabolic, toxic, microbiologic, autoimmune, neoplastic, degenerative and traumatic causes of major categories of disease and injury and the ways in which they present in clinical practice.
• Relate the altered structure and function (pathology and pathophysiology) of the body and its major organ systems to various diseases and conditions.
• Explain the principles of pharmacology, therapeutics and therapeutic decision-making as they relate to the mechanisms of disease.

Demonstrate and apply relevant scientific knowledge of biopsychosocial factors that alter physiology and the effect of these factors on therapeutic interventions, disease prevention, health promotion and health disparities.

• Recognize the important nonbiological determinants of poor health, including the psychological and social factors such as racism, stigma, oppression and trauma, that contribute to the development and/or exacerbation of illnesses.
• Describe the epidemiology and risk factors of common illnesses and how they may present in diverse populations.
• Apply the systematic approaches useful in reducing the incidence and prevalence of common illnesses.

Demonstrate scientific literacy, including the ability to gather and evaluate information sources, evidence and research design.

• Determine the nature and extent of the information needed for various populations and effectively search databases to gather information.
• Apprise existing literature to understand characteristics of diverse populations, generalizability of study results across populations and integrity of sources.
• Apply the requirements for ethical conduct of scientific inquiry.
• Use an evidence-based approach to gathering, evaluating and integrating information into specific clinical contexts.

Communicate effectively and in a timely fashion, both orally and in writing, with patients, families and other health care professionals.

• Communicate effectively with patients and families at an appropriate level of health literacy across a broad range of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.
• Communicate with patients and families in culturally appropriate ways regarding sensitive issues such as sexuality and sexual function, oppression, domestic violence, substance abuse, socioeconomic barriers to health, end-of-life issues and other topics that affect patient well-being.
• Communicate accurately and effectively, identifying and removing any stigmatizing language used, orally, in writing and through electronic health records with anyone with whom physicians must exchange information in carrying out their responsibilities.

Appraise one’s own medical knowledge, social understanding and clinical skills, accept limitations, identify goals and incorporate new information for continuous, lifelong learning and improvement.

• Synthesize performance feedback and use it to improve gaps in knowledge and skills.
• Construct a plan for growth and improvement based on the appraisal of one’s own knowledge and skills.
• Commit to lifelong learning, incorporating new information to improve care.

Demonstrate emotional intelligence in management of self and others.

• Recognize manifestations of emotion and stress in oneself and others and demonstrate healthy coping mechanisms in response.
• Manage conflict between personal and professional responsibilities.
• Practice flexibility and maturity and demonstrate the capacity to alter one’s behavior to be appropriate in a variety of situations.
• Demonstrate trustworthiness and equanimity.
• Demonstrate situational and self-awareness and use that information to guide thinking and behavior in the practice of medicine.
• Integrate new knowledge, skills, values and behaviors with one’s own unique identity and core values to develop a professional identity.

Apply team-based interprofessional practice in the delivery of safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable, person-centered, population-based health care.

• Demonstrate respect for the roles of other health care professionals and willingness to collaborate with others in caring for individual patients and in promoting the health of defined populations.
• Practice team-based interprofessional care and establish and maintain a climate of mutual respect, dignity, integrity, inclusiveness and trust among all team members.

Incorporate contextual awareness of the larger health care systems, medical products and pharmaceutical industries and resources by providing optimal health care and advocacy for patients.

• Describe the structure, function and finance of the health care, public health industry, academic and research systems, and the role of physicians within them.
• Appraise and apply systematic, population-based approaches useful in reducing the incidence and prevalence of common conditions.
• Analyze positive and negative consequences resulting from the involvement of industry in health care delivery, scientific research and medical product development.
• Recognize the tension between the obligation to meet the needs of individual patients with a societal obligation to practice evidence-based medicine and resource stewardship.

Employ quality-improvement principles and tools to improve patient safety or patient care.

• Retrieve (from electronic databases or other resources), manage and use biomedical information for solving problems and making decisions that are relevant to the care of individuals and populations including addressing social determinants of health and barriers to health equity.
• Employ quality-improvement principles and common patient safety/quality tools and value-based care to improve patient care.
• Evaluate the validity of information and apply statistical and quantitative understanding to the interpretation of data as related to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease.

Practice with integrity, accountability, quality and reliability.

• Demonstrate honesty and integrity in all interactions with patients, families, colleagues and others with whom physicians interact in their professional lives.
• Advocate for the interests of one’s patients over one’s own interests.
• Demonstrate respect for patient confidentiality and privacy of protected health information.

Practice ethical, compassionate, person-centered care with a commitment to dignity.

• Show compassion and respect in treatment of patients, while maintaining appropriate boundaries.
• Demonstrate a commitment to advocate and provide care for patients from underserved or vulnerable populations.
• Demonstrate a commitment to service in response to community need.
• Discuss major theories and principles of medical ethics, including the approach to resolution of major ethical dilemmas in research and clinical practice.