Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine

Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine Academics

4-year modern. First and second years: During the preclinical years, students acquire the building blocks of basic science and the skills required for clinical decision making and patient interaction. The modular content of the curriculum is taught in lectures, labs with integrated clinical conferences, and small-group activities. The year begins with the cellular and Systems Processes Module and a Brain and Behavior Module. Offered concurrently with the basic science modules, the yearlong Essentials and Clinical Medicine course emphasizes family, cultural, and population aspects of health care, communication skills, information retrieval and analysis, health promotion/disease prevention, ethics, history taking with children and adults, and a community project. The Essentials of Clinical Medicine course is a 2-year sequence that emphasizes those skills needed to prepare students for the third year. Second year: Essentials of Clinical Medicine addresses interviewing and physical examination, common medical problems, and interdisciplinary topics such as ethics, nutrition, and the impact of behavior on health while highlighting principles of patient care for each stage of life. Cellular and Systems Disease States is a yearlong module divided into 5 systems-based blocks. In this module, students are exposed to the topics of medical microbiology, pathology, and pharmacology in the context of clinical medicine. Third year: The required core clerkships: in internal medicine, pediatrics, family medicine, ob/gyn, surgery, psychiatry, and neurology. Fourth year: Students must complete 4-week rotations in emergency medicine, critical care, and an acting internship in medicine, family medicine, or pediatrics. The remainder of the fourth year is for elective study, which can include both clinical and research courses.