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Organization
The four-year Rush curriculum provides an appropriate background for individuals with a diversity of professional career goals. The curriculum is based on establishing a solid foundation in the basic sciences and clinical medicine through a core of required pre-clinical and clinical courses.
Curriculum: First and Second Years
The primary objective of the first year is to provide students with exposure to the vocabulary and the fundamental concepts upon which the clinical sciences are based. The first year is comprised of three quarters of basic science material organized by discipline, that emphasize the structure, function, and behavior of the normal person. The curriculum utilizes a variety of educational formats that include lecture, laboratory, small group discussions and workshops. In addition to the preceptor experience, introduction to interviewing, history taking, and physical examination are offered in a unique series of three courses that continue into the second year. Descriptions for the other courses listed below may be found in the section on courses.
Curriculum: First Year:
ANA 451 Histology
ANA 471-472 Human Anatomy I, II
BCH 471-472 Biochemistry I, II
BHV 451 Fundamentals of Behavior
BHV 453 Behavior in the Life Cycle
HHV 581-582 Ethics in Medicine I, II
IMM 505 Basic Immunology
NEU 451 Medical Neurobiology
PCM 500 Introduction to the Patient
PCM 511 Interviewing and Communication
PCM 521-523 Preceptorship I, II, III
PVM 531 Introduction to Preventive Medicine
PVM 532 Medical Decision Making
PHY 451-452 Physiology I, II
Curriculum: Second Year
During the second year, students are concerned with the study of the causes and effects of disease and therapeutics. The introductory clinical studies courses continue to complement the courses listed.
HHV 583 Ethics in Medicine III
IMM 506 Clinical Immunology
MED 501-503 Clinical Pathophysiology I, II, III
MIC 451-452 Microbiology Concepts I, II
PCM 505 Physical Diagnosis V
PCM 507-509 Introduction to Clinical Skills I, II, III
PCM 514 Interviewing and Communication IV
PCM 524-526 Preceptorship IV, V, VI
PHR 501-502 Medical Pharmacology I, II
PTH 511-513 Pathology I, II, III
PSY 501 Introduction to Psychopathology
PVM 505 Epidemiology/Biostatistics
Curriculum: Third and Fourth Years
The curricula of the third and fourth years provide students with training in clinical skills, diagnosis, and patient management in a variety of patient care settings.
Students must take and pass Step I of the examinations offered by the United States Medical Licensing Examination/National Board of Medical Examiners (USMLE/NBME) before beginning core clerkships. Prior to the start of the third year, students participate in the CRASH Course, a four-day intensive orientation to clinical skills to be used during the clerkships.
A minimum of 78 weeks of clinical experiences is required for
graduation. The curriculum includes 50 weeks of required core
clerkships in family medicine, internal medicine, neurology,
pediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics/gynecology, surgery and a required senior subinternship. The remaining 28 weeks required for graduation consist of elective study in areas of special interest to each student. The choice of electives is guided by the goal of an
educationally-balanced undergraduate experience.
Core clerkships in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics,
obstetrics/gynecology, psychiatry and surgery must be completed
during the M3 year. The clinical experiences are primarily taken at Rush University
Medical Center, the John H. Stroger Hospital of Cook County and Rush North Shore Medical Center. Of the 28 weeks of required student-chosen electives, up to 10 weeks of elective study may be carried out at other LCME or ACGME accredited institutions. A maximum of eight weeks of elective rotations may be taken in a particular subspecialty area. Additional elective study may be taken but will not count toward the degree.
Students participate in the assignment of required core clerkships through a lottery system, although the final decision concerning core and elective clerkship rotations for each student rests with the Director of Clinical Curriculum. Additionally, third-year students are provided with a clinical skills assessment experience with standardized patients. This experience is designed to aid in self-evaluation of one's clinical skills (communication and interpersonal skills, attitudes and procedural skills).
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