Graduate Professional Degree

PROGRAM IN HUMAN MEDICINE

The professional program leading to the Doctor of Medicine degree has been accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education of the American Medical Association/American Association of Medical Colleges.

To achieve its educational goals, the college will:

1. Recruit students from diverse academic, geographical, racial, and ethnic origins.
2. Enact a curriculum for medical students that:
   1. is strongly influenced by the focus of educating primary care physicians.
   2. utilizes the biopsychosocial model of medicine.
   3. is located, to the extent possible, in communities that closely approximate the environments in which students, as physicians, will ultimately provide health care.
   4. considers the needs of the population which its students will ultimately serve.
   5. emphasizes medicine as a helping profession as well as an applied science.
   6. fosters student responsibility for self–learning, peer evaluation, interactive professional discussion, and decision making in groups of health professionals.
   7. results in the preparation of graduates to enter and complete graduate medical education.
   8. can be evaluated in terms of its intended outcomes.
   9. can be modified based on assessment of its effectiveness.
   10. emphasizes preventive and health maintenance services in clinical practice.
3. Provide oversight to integrated and affiliated community residency and fellowship programs that stress goals similar to those of the medical student curriculum.
4. Promote and support graduate student and postgraduate programs in the disciplines basic to medicine.
5. Provide programs whereby physicians and other health professionals can acquire the conceptual background and skills in instruction, educational planning, evaluation, research, and administration needed to function as effective faculty members.
6. Conduct patient care programs that encourage and foster continued clinical excellence by the faculty and that provide students with examples of quality–evaluated and cost–effective patient care.
7. Sponsor, organize, and evaluate continuing education programs in medically related fields of biological, behavioral, social, educational, and clinical sciences to assist practicing physicians and other health professionals in pursuing lifelong learning objectives, often by collaborating with community organizations and physicians.
8. Collaborate with other colleges in providing educational programs and experiences that would expand the scope of health professions education in the University.

SHARED DISCOVERY CURRICULUM

The College of Human Medicine’s Shared Discovery Curriculum is designed to be responsive to the health care needs of Michigan, the country, and in the educational best interests of diverse learners.  The curriculum represents a significant departure from present educational models by emphasizing usefulness and experience as the motivating framework for adult medical education.

The design of the curriculum is based on a set of guiding principles which are divided into two categories. The core principles are envisioned as the foundation to all learning within the curriculum.  The critical additional principles are central to the college’s vision and mission and should be reflected in the experiences of any graduate of our program.

Core Principles
Adult learning/student centered
Competence and excellence
Rational instructional design
Humanism
Integration
Patient-centered
Faculty development link to the curriculum

Critical Additional Principles
Community medicine
Chronic disease
Compassion and empathy
Innovative use of technology
Problem-based
Cultural competence
Healthcare disparities
Future oriented
Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)
accreditation standards
Multidisciplinary programming
Safety science
Continuous quality improvement model
Teamwork
Leadership

Learning Societies

Students and faculty are organized in an Academy through the creation of four learning societies spanning the geographic campuses and medical student years in the curriculum.  The learning societies are the site of academic coordination of student learning plans as well as the home of post clinic groups that integrate and contextualize students’ experiences in clinic with the programmed content of the curriculum. The learning societies provide student mentorship, exploration of the social context of medicine and medical humanities, and peer-to-peer and near-peer support.

The college’s curriculum is organized around a core group of competencies based on residency competencies: Service, Care of Patients, Rationality, Integration, Professionalism, and Transformation. The acronym is SCRIPT, and these are, with the exception of service, based on residency competencies adopted by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Major Curriculum Experiences

The curriculum will be organized around three major clinical experiences: the Early Clinical Experience, Middle Clinical Experience, and Late Clinical Experience.  Between the clinical experiences there are intersessions which will provide an opportunity for students to focus on particular areas of strength, and interest.

Early Clinical Experience

The 24-week Early Clinical Experience begins with an 8-week lead-in preparation which emphasizes student and patient safety in clinical settings, communication and clinical skills, the social context of clinical decisions, and a survey of the necessary sciences underpinning common ambulatory clinical exam procedures, diagnostics tests, and clinical findings.  Within the first few weeks of the Early Clinical Experience, students take the Progress Suite and develop a personal learning plan with their learning community faculty. Students begin orientation in their ambulatory clinic site and begin learning the clinic’s processes by week 9 of the curriculum. In their clinical setting, students sequentially function as a medical assistant and then participate in care management activities before beginning to do focused histories and examinations on patients with common presenting conditions.

The weekly template for the Early Clinical Experience student workflow includes small group sessions, a large group activity, Post Clinic Group, necessary science laboratory, clinical simulation, and Guided Independent Learning time each week. The weekly tempate is programmed utilizing chief complaints and concerns end-competencies.

Topics in the early weeks of the Early Clinical Experience include: introductory gross anatomy and radiological correlates for the Core Physical Exam; and integrative molecular and cellular biology of common laboratory tests and host response to pathogen.

Intersessions

The Shared Discovery Curriculum includes intersessions between the Early and Middle Clinical Experiences and again between the Middle and Late Clinical Experiences designed to help students prepare for their next level of clinical work.

There are three blocks of intersessions between the Early and Middle Clinical Experiences.  Each block is four weeks long and students takes two intersessions at a time.  Students take required intersessions Students also have the opportunity to take foundational intersessions in basic sciences and clinical skills, topics of special interest as well as advanced topics.

Between the Middle and Late Clinical Experiences there are two blocks of intersessions.  Each block is four weeks long and students take three total intercession topics.  Students are required to take an intersession preparing for the United States Medical Licensure Examination Step I exam.

Middle Clinical Experience

The 30 week Middle Clinical Experience in the curriculum further integrates clinical and necessary science and humanities experiences to a greater depth and with students in varied clinical settings.  The learning society scholar groups of the Early Clinical Experience continue once a week in the Middle Clinical Experience in support of the weekly-programmed content.  Students continue to participate in simulation every week, which integrate clinical skills and necessary sciences.  They participate in necessary science laboratory experiences and their curriculum continues to be programmed utilizing Chief Complaints and Concerns end-competencies. The clinical experiences of the Middle Clinical Experience include 12 clinical rotations (Adult Wards, Care Management and Social Work, Emergency Medicine, Newborn Service, Nursing, Nutrition, Palliative Care and Pain, Pediatric Wards, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, Respiratory Therapy, Women’s Health) each of which have their own goals and objectives supported by a weekly rotation-based small group precepted by faculty.

Late Clinical Experience

The Late Clinical Experience provides disciplinary clerkships to prepare students for residency and a career of learning in the specialty of their interest. The major disciplines are included through rotations in family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, surgery (1 and 2), and required selectives in primary care and critical care.  A Human Medicine course series, Advanced Skills and Knowledge, including the recurring progress assessment suites, occurs throughout the Late Clinical Experience.

During the Late Clinical Experience, students are also required to complete 18 weeks of approved clinical electives as a part of meeting the college graduation requirements. At least 4 of the 18 weeks must be completed in the community to which the student is assigned. Students are encouraged to study broadly and/or to pursue intensively their special interests through elective programs. Elective programs may include a variety of courses offered by the college and university, research projects, and placements in clinical settings. Students may also take elective courses at other medical schools or be placed in clinical settings other than those associated with Michigan State University.

PROGRESS ASSESSMENT

From the first days of the curriculum, and at regular intervals throughout the curriculum, a suite of progress assessments enable students and their faculty to verify learners’ achievement of competence and readiness to advance.  Progress testing is a longitudinal competency assessment that facilitates adult lifelong learning and represents the College of Human Medicine’s graduation test for the M.D. degree.  Students take the progress suite assessment and move through the curriculum as they demonstrate competency.  With some slight variation for licensure preparation, every offering of the progress suite of assessments is equivalent and students are evaluated on these end-competency assessments many times in their College of Human Medicine career.

Pragmatism as an educational philosophical stance requires assessing thought, action and their interaction.  The curriculum utilizes a group of assessments that include the nationally-normed multiple choice examinations associated with a professional education but do not stop at the determination of simply what our learners “know.”  A core assessment is the Progress Clinical Skills Examination of actual performance with standardized patients. Other assessments in the suite include a multi-source rating by their faculty, peers, health care team members and actual patients which indicates what our College of Human Medicine students “do.”  Portfolios of evidence containing essays, multimedia, reflections, scholarly products and projects are regularly reviewed by faculty to assure that acquisition of the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes is taking place, and that learners can receive anticipatory guidance to achieve not only competence, but excellence. Ongoing data flow from these multiple types of assessments assures that students, faculty, staff, and administration are engaging in continuous quality improvement. Students are guided to focus on particular areas of challenge and opportunity.

Progress suite assessments are offered twice a semester to students of all levels of the curriculum.  Students are required to pass the progress suite of assessments in order to advance through the curriculum.

ADMISSION TO THE PROGRAM IN HUMAN MEDICINE

The College of Human Medicine Committee on Admissions strives to select qualified applicants who are academically, emotionally, motivationally, and socially competent and ready for the rigors of medical school and for a career in medicine. These competencies creates graduates who meet the bio-psycho-social needs of a diverse patient population. As a community-integrated medical school in Michigan, the college’s mission focuses on educating physicians to meet the primary health care needs of the people of Michigan, including the state’s underserved rural and inner-city areas. In preparation for serving a diverse patient population, the composition of the entering class of 190 students is representative of Michigan’s general population. Students come from a variety of cultural, geographic, and ethnic backgrounds. In recent history, women have comprised more than 50 percent, underrepresented minority students 20 to 25 percent, and Michigan residents 75 to 80 percent of the entering class. Since there is no preference for academic majors, applicants with varied academic backgrounds are represented in each entering class, including those with degrees in the natural sciences, applied sciences, arts, business, engineering, humanities, and social sciences.

The College of Human Medicine uses the primary application services available through the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS). Applicants may contact their premedical advisor, or contact AMCAS at http: //www.aamc.org for application information. The Committee on Admissions encourages students to submit the AMCAS application in June of the year prior to anticipated enrollment, but no later than the November 1 deadline date. The Committee also requires that all applicants submit Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) scores. The MCAT is administered multiple times throughout the year. MCAT scores are valid for three years. For more information about the MCAT, applicants should contact their premedical advisors, or the MCAT Program Office at www.aamc.org/students/applying/mcat. For further information about the College of Human Medicine, request a copy of the CHM Handbook for Premedical Students, by contacting the College of Human Medicine at http://www.chm.msu.edu/

The admissions process will continue the college's traditional use of holistic review, which uses a balanced assessment of academic metrics, activities, and personal characteristics, and attributes when making admissions decisions. The College of Human Medicine Office of Admissions evaluates applicants’ AMCAS applications, including life experiences and personal statements, and letters of recommendation (personal characteristics and attributes), and academic profile (major, classes, GPA trends, MCAT scores, undergraduate institution). Admission officers from the admissions office act on direction from the admissions committee to evaluate the applications to determine the most qualified applicants to advance to the next phase of the admissions process, the interview. Students are invited to Interview Day to learn more about the College of Human Medicine through a series of highly-structured interviews and programs. Applicant interviews consists of a one-on-one interview with a medical students and a 100-minute, eight-station multiple mini-interview that incorporates faculty, staff, students, alumni, and other vested individuals. Interviewers are trained to assess applicants on the qualities the College associates with becoming exemplar physicians consistent with the mission of the college.

The Committee on Admissions makes the final admissions decisions based on the following cognitive and non-cognitive considerations:

1. Academic competence including attributes such as fulfilling the premedical requirements, grades, trend in grades, degrees earned, rigors of the degree programs, MCAT scores, research experience, and cognitive skills.
2. Experiences consistent with a commitment and success within medicine, such as clinical experiences, non-medical community service experiences, experiences with people different from self, experiences showing commitment to a community of people, mentoring experiences, leadership experiences, and teamwork experiences.
3. Personal characteristics and attributes that are consistent with a commitment and success within medicine, such as compassion, maturity, social responsibility, professional responsibility, morals and ethics, sociability, cultural competence, self-awareness calm-disposition, honesty, competence, and respect for others.

Minimum requirements which must be fulfilled prior to enrollment in the program in human medicine are:

1. Be a U.S. or Canadian citizen or permanent resident of the United States.
2. Have a valid U.S. or Canadian Driver’s License and reliable vehicle upon matriculation.
3. Have completed at least a four-year high school education or equivalent.
4. Have completed all premedical requirements, including a bachelor’s degree earned in the U.S. or Canada.
5. Have taken the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).
6. Have taken the CASPer Test.

Michigan State University-College of Human Medicine has embraced a flexible approach in providing four options (or pathways) to meeting the premedical course requirements. A description of the four premedical course requirement options can be found here: https://mdadmissions.msu.edu/applicants/prereq.html.
 

Requirements for the Doctor of Medicine Degree
1.	All of the following courses (140 credits):
	FM	641	Family Medicine Clerkship in the Late Clinical Experience						6
	HM	552	Medical School I						16
	HM	553	Medical School II						16
	HM	554	Medical School III						16
	HM	555	Medical School IV						16
	HM	556	Medical School V						16
	HM	651	Advanced Skills and Knowledge in Medical School I						3
	HM	652	Advanced Skills and Knowledge in Medical School II						3
	HM	653	Advanced Skills and Knowledge in Medical School III						3
	HM	654	Advanced Skills and Knowledge in Medical School IV						3
	HM	655	Advanced Skills and Knowledge in Medical School V						3
	MED	641	Internal Medicine Clerkship in the Late Clinical Experience						9
	OGR	641	Obstetrics and Gynecology Clerkship in the Late Clinical Experience						6
	PHD	641	Pediatric Clerkship in the Late Clinical Experience						6
	PSC	641	Psychiatry and Behavioral Science Clerkship in the Late Clinical Experience						6
	SUR	641	Surgery in the Late Clinical Experience I						6
	SUR	642	Surgery in the Late Clinical Experience II						6
2.	One of the following Critical Care Selective courses (6 credits):
	MED	643	Medicine Critical Care						6
	PHD	643	Pediatric Critical Care						6
	SUR	643	Surgical Critical Care						6
3.	One of the following Primary Care Selective courses (6 credits):
	FM	610	Outpatient Family Medicine Clerkship						6
	FM	611	Geriatric Clerkship						6
	FM	616	Rural Family Practice Elective						6
	FM	617	Sports Medicine Clerkship						6
	FM	618	Palliative and End of Life Care Clerkship						6
	MED	619	Advanced Internal Medicine-Ambulatory						6
	MED	624	Geriatric Clerkship						6
	MED	636	Advanced Internal Medicine: Medicine/Pediatrics						6
	PHD	602	Ambulatory Pediatric Clerkship						6
4.	Completion of 18 weeks of Elective Clerkships (27 credits):
	ANTR	685	Directed Study in Clinical Prosection						3 or 6
	EM	631	Clinical Experience in Emergency Medicine						3 or 6
	EM	632	Senior Clinical Elective in Emergency Medicine						6
	EM	633	Emergency Medicine Sub-Specialty Clinical Elective						3 or 6
	FM	610	Outpatient Family Medicine Clerkship						3 or 6
	FM	611	Geriatric Clerkship						3 or 6
	FM	612	Inpatient Family Medicine Clerkship						3 or 6
	FM	613	Clinical Research in Family Practice						6
	FM	616	Rural Family Practice Elective						6
	FM	617	Sports Medicine Clerkship						3 or 6
	FM	618	Palliative and End of Life Care Clerkship						3 or 6
	FM	620	Family Practice Subinternship						6
	HM	608	Sub-Specialty Clerkships						6
	HM	609	Laboratory Medicine Clerkship						3 or 6
	HM	610	Pathology Clerkship						3 or 6
	HM	611	Hospice Clerkship						3 or 6
	HM	612	Pain Medicine						3 or 6
	HM	613	Complementary Medicine Clerkship						3 or 6
	HM	614	Student-Designed Elective Clerkship						3 or 6
	HM	615	Global Health Experience in India						3 or 6
	HM	616	Radiation Oncology Clerkship						3 or 6
	HM	622	Medical Partners in Public Health Community Resources and Wellness Programs						3 or 6
	HM	623	Medical Partners in Public Health Capstone Project Elective						3 or 6
	HM	629	Leadership in Medicine for the Underserved Community Elective						3 or 6
	HM	631	Leadership in Medicine for Underserved Urban or Global Elective						3 or 6
	HM	632	Rural Community Health						3 or 6
	HM	633	Advanced Rural Community Health						3 or 6
	HM	639	Northern Wilderness, Emergency and Sports Medicine						6
	HM	691	Research Clerkship						3 or 6
	MED	609	Hematology Clerkship						3 or 6
	MED	610	Oncology Clerkship						3 or 6
	MED	611	Cardiology Clerkship						3 or 6
	MED	612	Nephrology Clerkship						3 or 6
	MED	613	Dermatology Clerkship						3 or 6
	MED	614	Pulmonary Clerkship						3 or 6
	MED	615	Gastroenterology Clerkship						3 or 6
	MED	616	Allergy Clerkship						3 or 6
	MED	618	Infectious Disease Clerkship						3 or 6
	MED	619	Advanced Internal Medicine - Ambulatory						3 or 6
	MED	621	Advanced Internal Medicine - Inpatient						3 or 6
	MED	622	Endocrinology and Metabolism Clerkship						3 or 6
	MED	624	Geriatric Clerkship						3 or 6
	MED	626	Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clerkship						3 or 6
	MED	627	Rheumatology Clerkship						3 or 6
	MED	628	Advanced Internal Medicine: Senior Medicine Sub-Internship						6
	MED	632	Occupational Medicine Clerkship						3 or 6
	MED	634	Advanced Internal Medicine: Intensive Care Medicine/Critical Care						3 or 6
	MED	635	Advanced Internal Medicine: Women’s Health						3 or 6
	MED	636	Advanced Internal Medicine: Medicine/Pediatrics						3 or 6
	NOP	617	Neurology Clerkship						6
	NOP	620	Ophthalmology Clerkship						6
	OGR	609	Advanced Gynecology Clerkship						3 or 6
	OGR	610	Perinatology Clerkship						3 or 6
	OGR	611	Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Clerkship						3 or 6
	OGR	612	Gynecologic Oncology Clerkship						3 or 6
	OGR	614	Advanced Obstetrics Clerkship						3 or 6
	OGR	615	Obstetrics and Gynecology Sub-Internship						6
	PHD	601	Human Development and Pediatric Sub-specialties						3 or 6
	PHD	602	Ambulatory Pediatrics Clerkship						3 or 6
	PHD	603	Pediatric Infectious Diseases Clerkship						3 or 6
	PHD	604	Neonatology						6
	PHD	605	Pediatric Cardiology Clerkship						3 or 6
	PHD	606	Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism Clerkship						3 or 6
	PHD	607	Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Clerkship						3 or 6
	PHD	608	Pediatric Pulmonary Disease Clerkship						3 or 6
	PHD	609	Pediatric Genetics Clerkship						3 or 6
	PHD	610	Pediatric Allergy-Immunology Clerkship						3 or 6
	PHD	611	Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Clerkship						3 or 6
	PHD	612	Pediatric Gastroenterology Clerkship						3 or 6
	PHD	613	Pediatric Emergency Medicine Clerkship						3 or 6
	PHD	614	Pediatric Nephrology Clerkship						3 or 6
	PHD	615	Pediatric Neurology Clerkship						3 or 6
	PHD	616	Pediatric Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clerkship						3 or 6
	PHD	617	Pediatric Adolescent Medicine Clerkship						3 or 6
	PHD	618	Pediatrics Sub-Internship						3 or 6
	PHD	619	Pediatric Hospital Medicine Clerkship						3 or 6
	PHD	620	Child Abuse Pediatrics Clerkship						3 or 6
	PHD	621	Pediatric Rheumatology Clerkship						3 or 6
	PSC	609	Adult Psychiatry Clerkship						3 or 6
	PSC	610	Child Psychiatry Clerkship						3 or 6
	PSC	611	Addiction Psychiatry Clerkship						3 or 6
	PSC	612	Geriatric Psychiatry Clerkship						3 or 6
	RAD	609	Radiology Clerkship						3 or 6
	RAD	612	Interventional Radiology						3 or 6
	SUR	609	Otolaryngology Clerkship						3 or 6
	SUR	610	Plastic Surgery Clerkship						3 or 6
	SUR	611	Urology Clerkship						3 or 6
	SUR	612	General Surgery Sub-Internship						6
	SUR	613	Orthopedic Surgery Clerkship						3 or 6
	SUR	614	Neurosurgery Clerkship						3 or 6
	SUR	615	Ophthalmology Clerkship						3 or 6
	SUR	616	Cardiothoracic Surgery Clerkship						3 or 6
	SUR	617	Critical Care Clerkship						3 or 6
	SUR	618	Anesthesia Clerkship						3 or 6
	SUR	619	Sub-specialty Surgery Clerkship						3 or 6
	SUR	622	Pediatrics Orthopedic Surgery Clerkship						3 or 6
	SUR	623	Sports Medicine Orthopedic Surgery Clerkship						3 or 6
	SUR	624	Vascular Surgery Clerkship						3 or 6
	SUR	625	Hand Surgery Clerkship						3 or 6
	SUR	626	Pediatric Surgery Clerkship						3 or 6
	SUR	627	Burns Clerkship						3 or 6
	SUR	628	Trauma Surgery Clerkship						3 or 6
	SUR	629	Colorectal Surgery Clerkship						3 or 6
	SUR	630	Surgical Wound Care Clerkship						3 or 6
	SUR	631	Surgical Oncology Clerkship						3 or 6
	SUR	632	Surgical Nutrition Clerkship						3 or 6

Transfer Credits

For a student who is pursuing a full-time M.B.A. degree from MSU jointly with a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree from Michigan State University - College of Human Medicine, a maximum of 12 credits from the MSU College of Human Medicine may be transferred to the full-time M.B.A. degree program.