Curriculum + Competencies
The program's curriculum and competencies emphasize foundational understanding of clinical reasoning and decision-making, integrating evidence, ethics, and patient perspectives within the broader context of health and medicine.
Curriculum Overview
Phase 1: Semesters 1-3
Based on a modification of the WMU curriculum with several courses taught by 海角社区 Faculty, to ensure a broad grounding in foundational medical sciences.
Phase 2: Semesters 4-8
These semesters essentially match the first two years of classroom-based medical school training at the 海角社区 – also known as the Pre-clerkship curriculum. Students build their knowledge around a series of systems-based course blocks.
- In semesters 4-6, these will be: Foundations of Medicine; Cardiology; Pulmonary; Renal; and Endocrinology.
- In semesters 7-8, these will be: Musculoskeletal Medicine and Dermatology; Psychiatry; Neurosciences and Organs of Special Senses; Gastroenterology; Reproductive Medicine and Urology; and Integration: Oncology, Emergency Medicine, Anesthesiology.
The students have early and regular exposure to clinical practice starting in semester 4.
In year five of the program students participate in a year-long clinical internship, providing daily, real-world exposure to direct clinical learning opportunities. This phase involves Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME), making it one of the earliest learning opportunities of this style introduced in a Chinese medical university.
Phase 3: Semesters 9-10
In year five of the program students participate in a year-long clinical internship, providing daily, real-world exposure to direct clinical learning opportunities. This phase involves Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME), making it one of the earliest learning opportunities of this style introduced in a Chinese medical university.
Program Schedule
- Classes run Monday to Friday, from 8 am to about 5 pm, depending on the day and your schedule.
- Students can expect to spend most of their time in classes, Discovery Learning (DL), labs and clinical placements.
- Course schedules, lectures, examinations and more are available through a comprehensive learning platform known as “CALLY”. This offers a consistent learning experience and delivery of high-quality educational resources across continents. The purpose-built integrated suite of technology-based tools has successfully enabled 海角社区 faculty instructors to teach AIWMU medical learners in China.
- Among other learning approaches, students experience “flipped classroom” learning where they watch pre-recorded Vodcast-Lectures (V-Lectures) by leading 海角社区 Scholars before Small Group Learning (SGL) sessions and/or live review lectures.
Language of Instruction
- All lectures are delivered in English.
- Assessments (quizzes, tests, assignments and exams) are delivered, submitted and reviewed in English.
- English language learning support is collaboratively provided by the 海角社区 and WMU to promote student success in the transnational program.
Competencies + Learning Outcomes
- Demonstrate clinical decision-making skills that integrate best evidence and acknowledge patient values.
- Apply basic knowledge of the etiology, pathogenesis, clinical features, complications, principles of prevention and management with emphasis on common and life-threatening illnesses across the age spectrum.
- Demonstrate knowledge of approaches to diagnosis and treatment with emphasis on common and urgent problems.
- Perform both complete and organ system-specific examinations appropriate to the age of the patient and nature of the clinical problem(s).
- Recognize and prioritize the urgency of a patient's clinical problems.
- List and prioritize a meaningful differential diagnosis emphasizing common and urgent clinical presentations.
- Demonstrate the ability to select and interpret commonly employed investigations, using selected diagnostic and therapeutic procedural skills.
- Apply the principles of pharmacology and evaluate options for safe, rational, and appropriate drug therapy.
- Apply the scientific principles underlying evidence-based approaches to health maintenance, preventive screening, and therapeutic, rehabilitative, and palliative interventions.
- Demonstrate a basic understanding of the psychological, interpersonal, family, cultural, societal, and environmental determinants of health and illness across a diverse population.
- Recognize and cope with uncertainty and ambiguity in clinical decision-making and care.
- Demonstrate critical reflection and inquiry to enable practices of life-long and self-directed learning.
- Demonstrate knowledge of forms of rigorous inquiry in research methodologies and describe an appropriate methodology to a specific research question.
- Demonstrate an understanding of medical ethics related to patient care, professional practices, and scholarly activities.
- Receive, incorporate, and provide feedback in an appropriate and timely manner in their daily learning and practice.