The Curriculum

The video above features first-year medical student interactions with a patient during the Respiratory Module.

The curriculum at the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama focuses on the concept of education across the continuum. It is fueled by the challenge in medical education of how best to move the matriculating medical student along the pathway to becoming a competent physician and life-long learner. The job is complex as young physicians must be able to satisfy an ever increasing level of competency in all aspects of their profession. The goal at the Whiddon College of Medicine is to provide a dynamic plan of learning expectations and awareness in training of what needs to be accomplished toward expertise of becoming a competent physician.

The educational objectives are framed around the six core competencies for medical training delineated by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and American Board of Medical Specialties in 1999. The Whiddon College of Medicine curriculum is devoted to the integrated instruction of all competencies beginning in the first week of medical school. Replacing traditional discipline-based basic science courses, instruction commences with a two-year sequence of modules devoted to different organ systems.

The goal of engaging students in a holistic curriculum across the full four years of medical school at the College of Medicine has improved training and competency in all areas that define the science and art of doctoring. Progress toward the synthesis of skills into observable behaviors related to each competency are carefully assessed in a series of milestones designed to achieve national standards of excellence at every level of training during the entire undergraduate medical education program.