Topics
Specific areas or categories of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that support medical education at College of Medicine. They will be supported and addressed by a focus in the curriculum over all 4 years, as appropriate.
Adolescent Medicine
The provision of care concerned with the physical and mental development and conditions of a person 13 to 18 years of age.
Biochemistry – Cellular and Molecular Science
The science of cells and biological and chemical phenomena and their effect on processes of the human body. The molecular basis of biological activities, their effect and chemistry on the biological processes.
Biomedical Informatics (e-Health)
The study and application of computer science, information science, informatics, cognitive science and human-computer interaction in the practice of biological research, biomedical science, medicine and healthcare. The field of information science concerned with the analysis and dissemination of medical data through the application of computers to various aspects of health care and medicine.
Biostatistics and Epidemiology (Biomedical Statistics)
The application of statistics to medical data and biological systems and organisms involving the retrieval or collection, analysis, reduction, and interpretation of qualitative and quantitative data.
Clinical Decision-Making/Medical Problem-Solving Skills
The process of making a selective intellectual clinical judgment when presented with several complex alternatives, and usually defining a course of action or an idea.
Communicate/Share the Information (peers, colleagues, and tutor/facilitator)
The use of verbal and non-verbal words, phrases, voice tones, facial expressions, gestures, and body language in the exchange or transmission of ideas, attitudes, or beliefs between peers and tutor/facilitator(s).
Communicating with other Health Professionals
The use of verbal and non-verbal words, phrases, voice tones, facial expressions, gestures, and body language in the exchange or transmission of ideas, attitudes, or beliefs with Non-physician Health Professionals.
Communicating with Patients and Patient’s Families or Surrogates
The use of verbal and non-verbal words, phrases, voice tones, facial expressions, gestures, and body language in the exchange or transmission of ideas, attitudes, or beliefs with Patients and Patient’s Families.
Communicating with Physicians (e.g., as part of the medical team)
The use of verbal and non-verbal words, phrases, voice tones, facial expressions, gestures, and body language in the exchange or transmission of ideas, attitudes, or beliefs with/between Physicians (e.g., as part of the medical team).
Complementary/Alternative Health Care
The therapeutic practices which are not considered an integral part of conventional allopathic medical practice (e.g., natural products, acupuncture, meditation, massage, movement therapies, etc.). Therapies are termed as Complementary when used in addition to conventional treatments and as Alternative when used instead of conventional treatment.
Critical Judgment and Evidence-based Medicine
The evaluation of research evidence and the integration of best evidence with clinical expertise and patient values to guide clinical care. The judicious use of the best current available scientific research in making decisions about the care of patients.
Cultural Competence and Biases
The set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals that enables respectful effective work in cross-cultural (beliefs, behaviors, and needs) situations.
Disease Diagnosis
The determination of the nature of a disease or condition, or the distinguishing of one disease or condition from another. Assessment may be made through physical examination, laboratory tests, or the likes.
Disease Management/Treatment
The clinical broad approach to coordinate the remedial treatment (cure of a “fixable” condition), management (lessen the symptoms) or prevention of a disease.
Domestic Violence/Abuse
The deliberate severe and repeated injury or aggressive behavior often destructive by an individual against a person living in one’s household, especially a member of one’s immediate family.
Ethical Decision-Making/Biomedical Ethics
The provision of care that is informed and supported by the application of principles of law and justice. The principles of professional conduct concerning the rights and duties of the physician, relations with patients and fellow practitioners, as well as actions of the physician in patient care and interpersonal relations with patient families.
Ethical Principles of Clinical and Translations Research
The idea that medical research is subject to ethical standards that promote and ensure respect for all human subjects and protect their health and rights.
Genetics
The study of genes, their function, and the heredity and mechanisms by which genetic factors are transmitted from one generation to the next.
Geriatrics
The provision of care concerned with the physiological and pathological aspects of the aged, including the clinical conditions of aging and senility.
Global Health Issues
The collaborative action for promoting the health status of inhabitants of the world.
Gross Anatomy
The origin (embryology), growth and development of the human body and the relationship between the structure and function of its organs and tissues.
Health Equity
The inequalities that exist when certain members of certain population groups experience differences in access to or availability of medical services, and do not benefit from the same health status as other groups.
Health Promotion and Illness/Disease Prevention
The provision of care primarily concerned with disease prevention and health promotion and maintenance. The encouragement of behaviors to optimize health potentials (physical and psychosocial) through health information and preventative and promotional programs.
History Taking
The process of acquiring relevant past and present medical information from a patient.
Human Development/Life Cycle
The study of structural changes of the human from a single cell (zygote) into an adult and the series of the changes in the structure and function that occur in the human body during its lifetime (i.e., neonate, infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, old age, etc.).
Human Sexuality
The sexual functions, activities, attitudes, and orientations of an individual that are expressed by one’s gender identity and sexual behavior.
Imaging
The use of a variety of imaging modalities to display the structural and functional patterns of organs or tissues of the human body for diagnostic purposes.
Law and Medicine
The science or philosophy of law. Also, the application of the principles of law and justice to health and medicine. Includes the principles of proper conduct concerning the rights and duties of the professional, the relationship with patients, patient’s families, consumers and fellow practitioners.
Leadership
The provision of skills to support taking an appropriate initiative in analyzing a problem, defining a direction and aligning people with a vision.
Microanatomy/Histology
The study of the structure of various tissues of organisms on a microscopic level.
Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
The study of microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria, algae, archaea, and viruses. Also, illnesses caused by an infectious agent or its toxins that occurs through the direct or indirect transmission of the infectious agent or its products from an infected individual or via an animal, vector, or the inanimate environment to a susceptible human host.
Neoplasm/Cancer
The abnormal growth of tissue, where malignant neoplasms show a greater degree of anaplasia and have the properties of invasion and metastasis, compared to benign neoplasms.
Neuroanatomy
The study of the structure and organization of the nervous system.
Nutrition
The study of the biological actions and events that constitute the steps by which living organisms take in and assimilate nutrients, as well as the components of food, their actions, interaction, and balance in relation to maintaining or promoting health and preventing disease.
Occupational Health/Medicine
The branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, promotion and treatment of diseases and injuries occurring at work or in specific occupational settings.
Pathology
The study of the nature and cause(s) of disease as demonstrated by changes in the structure and function in cells, tissues, and organs.
Pathophysiology
The disordered function of cells, tissues, and organs in disease states. *Not a synonym for “disease.”
Patient Care – Acute Care
The medical and skilled nursing services provided to a patient who is in an acute or severe phase of an illness requiring immediate care.
Patient Care – Continuity of Care
The continuing health care provided from the initial contact, following the patient through all phases of medical care.
Patient Care – Palliative/End-of-life
The medical care provided by physicians, nurses and social workers that specializes in the relief of the pain, symptoms, and stress of serious illness without curing the underlying disease and the care provided to a person in their final or terminal stages of life.
Patient Care – Rehabilitative Care
The treatment(s) provided to facilitate the process of recovery from injury, illness, or disease to as normal a condition as possible.
Pediatrics
A medical specialty concerned with maintaining health and providing medical care to children from birth to adolescence.
Pharmacology
The application of the origin, nature, properties mechanisms of action and effects in the administration of specific drugs, with consideration of the appropriate dosing, administration route, regimen, drug interactions and variability in patient response, as well as evidence for use and the availability of resources in the treatment/management of disease.
Physical Examination
The systematic and thorough examination of the patient for physical or behavioral signs of disease or abnormality.
Physiology
The study of the normal functions of the human body and its parts, and of the physical and chemical factors and the basic processes underlying the functioning of any of its parts or processes.
Planetary Health
The health of human civilization and the state of natural systems on which it depends, including biodiversity, pollution, climate change, natural disasters, land use, infectious disease, noncommunicable disease, nutrition, civil strife/displacement, mental health, etc.
Population and Community Health
The field within public health concerned with the improvement of health, accessibility to health services, and promoting efficiency in the provision of services and resources on a comprehensive basis for a geographical community.
Professionalism
The level of skills, good judgment, and polite behavior expected from people trained to do their jobs well.
Prognosis
A prediction of the probable outcome of a disease based on an individual’s condition and the usual course of the disease as seen in similar situations.
Radiology
The specialty concerned with the use of x-ray and other forms of radiant energy in producing an imaging for the diagnosis and management/treatment of a disease.
Research Methodology
The diligent inquiry or examination of data, reports, and observations in a search for facts or principles.
Rheumatology
A subspecialty of internal medicine concerned with the study of inflammatory or degenerative processes and metabolic derangement of connective tissue structures which pertain to a variety of musculoskeletal disorders.
Scientific Method
The method of inquiry in which a problem is identified, relevant data are gathered, a hypothesis is formulated from these data, and the hypothesis is empirically tested.
Social Determinants of Health
The position of an individual on a social-economic scale that measures factors such as education, income, type of occupation, place of residence, and, in some populations, heritage and religion and how these relate to disease.
Social Sciences
The discipline concerned with the interrelationships of individuals in a social environment including social organizations and institutions.
Societal Theme – Access to Care for American Indian and Alaskan Natives
Treatment and care for individuals who are members of native North American ethnic groups, or persons having origins in any indigenous people of Alaska and their descendants and who maintain tribal affiliation, or community or cultural attachment.
Societal Theme – Access to Care in Rural and Frontier Communities
About 62 million Americans live in rural and frontier communities, and a substantial portion of this population resides in the Pacific Northwest. Gaps in access to primary care, mental health services and dental care are a persistent problem in Washington State, and the desire to improve access to health services in these communities was a primary impetus for establishing the College of Medicine. The American Academy of Family Physicians notes that physicians are more likely to practice in rural areas if they receive training in these communities.
Societal Theme – Child Abuse and Neglect
Recognition and care related to the abuse of children in a family, institutional, or other setting.
Societal Theme – Chronic Disease Management
The organizational approach to caring for people with chronic disease in a primary health care system involving the community; the health system; self-management support; delivery system design; decision support, and clinical information systems.
Societal Theme – Cost and Quality of Care
Modern medicine is wholly embedded in a complex system of regulation and financing. The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was based on the “Triple Aim” of improving the experience of care, improving population health, and containing per capita health care costs.
Societal Theme – Migrant and Refugee Health
The act of treating persons fleeing to a place of safety, especially those who flee to a foreign country or power to escape danger, persecution, or economic distress in their own country or habitual residence.
Societal Theme – Nutrition in Health and Disease
In the US and other developed countries, micronutrient deficiencies are common among people with obesity. Obesity rates and co-occurring conditions like diabetes are increasing throughout the world, as people have greater access to low nutrient, high calorie, refined foods and less access to affordable vegetables, fruits and proteins. There is a growing recognition that effective primary and preventive care hinges on appropriate nutrition and adequate exercise.
Societal Theme – Persistent Pain and Opioid Dependency
Our country is in the midst of an opioid epidemic – in 2014, over 47,000 Americans died of drug overdoses. Unfortunately, American physicians played a central role in creating this problem. About 19% of adults report persistent pain, and beginning in the mid-1990s, a public campaign pushed physicians to recognize and treat this pain. Per capita prescriptions for synthetic opioids jumped in the next two decades, as did rates of substance use disorder and overdose deaths. Recent efforts to restrict access to prescription medications have driven many users to the black market, leading to a surge in heroin use. Physicians must now struggle to help their patients manage their persistent pain and/or obtain appropriate substance abuse treatment.
Societal Theme – Sexual Health and Sexually Transmitted Infections
Treatment and care for a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality, as well as diseases and infections due to or propagated by sexual contact.
Societal Theme – Trauma Informed Care (Substance Abuse, Violence, Poverty, Homelessness, etc.)
Throughout the early 21st century, there has been growing recognition in the medical and social welfare sectors of the critical importance of trauma in the genesis and exacerbation of chronic illness, psychological disorders, and social pathologies. While the providers like the Veteran’s Administration struggle to serve soldiers returning from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars with posttraumatic stress disorder, PTSD is undiagnosed and untreated in huge portions of the civilian population. For example, an estimated 96% of adolescents who receive inpatient psychiatric treatment have a history of trauma exposure, along with 93% of homeless mothers and 75% of adults in substance abuse treatment. New physicians should be trained to assess trauma and link patients to appropriate mental health and social services.
Substance Use Disorder
A problematic pattern of use of a substance or substances leading to impairments in health, social function, and control over substance use.
Telemedicine
The use of electronic communications and software to provide clinical services (evaluation, diagnosis and treating patients) remotely, without an in-person visit.
Translational Research
The multidirectional and multidisciplinary integration of basic research, patient-oriented research, and population-based research, with the long-term aim of improving the health of the public.
Sources
- Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- Dorland’s Medical Dictionary
- Merriam-Webster Dictionary
- United States National Library of Medicine – Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)