Program Overview
Introduction to the MD University Program
The MD University Program at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine offers a redesigned, four-year Western Reserve2 (WR2) Curriculum. This integrated program combines the disciplines of medicine and public health to train students in the interplay between the biology of disease and social and behavioral contexts of illness.
University Program Curriculum
The WR2 Curriculum is a single, integrated program that prepares students to become leaders in science, practice, and healthcare policy. The four-year program is structured as follows:
- Year 1: Social and behavioral context of health and disease; Foundations of Medicine and Health
- Year 2: Continuation of Foundations of Medicine and Health and time to prepare for USMLE Step 1
- Year 3: MD thesis research block or clinical blocks (basic science experiences interwoven); advanced clinical studies and seminars in medicine and health electives
- Year 4: Research (as applicable); advanced clinical studies and seminars in medicine and health
Curricular Themes
The Western Reserve2 Curriculum combines four themes to prepare students for the ongoing practice of evidence-based medicine in the rapidly changing healthcare environment of the 21st century. These themes include:
- Research and scholarship
- Clinical mastery
- Leadership
- Civic professionalism
Learning Environment
The WR2 Curriculum creates an independent, educational environment where learning is self-directed. Student education primarily occurs through:
- Faculty-facilitated, small-group, and student-centered discussions known as InQuiry Teams
- Large-group interactive sessions, including didactic sessions that offer a framework (lectures)
- Interactive anatomy and histology sessions
- Clinical skills training
- Early and frequent patient-based activities
Program Overview
The MD University Program aims to train students to study the interplay between the biology of disease and social and behavioral contexts of illness. The program prepares students to become physician-scholars who can treat disease, promote health prevention and maintenance, and examine the social and behavioral context of illness. Scholarship and clinical relevance inform learning processes, and clinical experiences and biomedical and population science span the four years of the curriculum.