Introduction
The University of Missouri has 4 campuses: Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla, and St. Louis. The Columbia campus, the oldest and largest, is the site of the university’s Columbia School of Medicine. This institution, established in 1872 as a 2-year medical school, expanded in 1956 into its present 4-year program. The University of Missouri Health Sciences Center includes the School of Medicine, University Hospital, Columbia Regional Hospital, VA Hospital, and other satellite facilities. clinical case format, the PBL component integrates the traditional basic sciences. Students work together to gather and organize information and then to generate and test hypotheses. In the IPC component, students explore a variety of content and skill-building experiences, including the physical exam skills, interviewing, health care/health policy, epidemiology, use of diagnostic tests and psychosocial aspects of medicine. Beginning in their first semester, students work with physician mentors and with standardized patients. Students also are assigned to a weekly clinic for an ambulatory care experience. Third and fourth years: The third year features 7-week required clerkships in child health, family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry/neurology, and surgery. The fourth year has three 8-week required advanced clinical selectives from a medical area, a surgical area, and one other selective.Also required in the fourth year are 6 weeks of advanced biomedical sciences and 16 weeks of general electives.