College of MedicineMD ProgramStudent AffairsStudent HandbookProgram Curriculum

Program Curriculum

Program Objectives and Core Competencies

The MD program curriculum at the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine equips students to meet core competencies and curriculum milestones to ensure they have the necessary medical knowledge and clinical skills to succeed as residents and later as practicing physicians.

Program objectives cover six core competency domains:

  1. Medical and scientific knowledge: Demonstrate knowledge of established and evolving biomedical, clinical, epidemiological, health systems, and social-behavioral perspectives in the care of patients and communities.
  2. Patient care and health promotion: Provide evidence-based care that is compassionate, culturally appropriate, and effective for illness prevention, health promotion, management, and treatment of disease, and the improvement in quality of life, including end-of-life care.
  3. Professionalism and self-awareness: Demonstrate commitment and adherence to principles of the profession, and awareness of one’s own interests, personal biases, vulnerabilities, and limitation of knowledge.
  4. Practice-based and life-long learning: Demonstrate the ability to appraise, assimilate, and incorporate scientific evidence and innovate as needed to evaluate and improve patient care practices based on continuous self-evaluation and life-long learning.
  5. Systems-based and interprofessional practice: Demonstrate awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context of health care, and the ability to call on system resources, including other health care professionals, to provide optimal patient care.
  6. Interpersonal and communication skills: Demonstrate effective information exchange and collaboration with patients, patients’ families, peers, other health professionals, and the community to enhance care.

Curriculum Features

To meet the program objectives and achieve core competencies, students receive a combination of classroom-based learning and clinical training during their four years of undergraduate medical education, as detailed on the curriculum by program year page. During the first two years, students study the fundamental medical sciences and are introduced to clinical practice. During the final two years, students transition to their regional medical campuses and are immersed in clinical experiences through a Year 3 Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship followed by Year 4 sub-internship, required rotations, and elective rotations. Throughout the program, students complete an original scholarship project and obtain a leadership certificate. Requirements to complete the MD degree are listed on the course catalog and requirements for graduation page.

Pre-clerkship Classroom Learning and Clinical Training

The curriculum during the first two years of the program consists primarily of classroom-based learning, integrated with early exposure to clinical settings. Course work covers the foundational medical sciences and the art and practice of medicine, employing educational formats including large-group classroom learning, case-based small-group learning, and simulation-based clinical skills training. Students are required to keep information from case-based learning sessions confidential to maintain the integrity of the discovery process for the next cohort of students. Additionally, pre-clerkship students are introduced to clinical practice by spending one half day per term in a clinical setting in Spokane and by visiting their assigned regional medical campus for one week per term during Clinical Campus Weeks.

Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship

The third-year curriculum consists of a 46-week Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC), where students relocate to their regional medical campuses to gain clinical experience at community clinics and hospitals. Different from a traditional block clerkship, the LIC exposes students to multiple care domains throughout the year, prioritizing continuity with preceptors and patients and allowing students to deepen their clinical knowledge and skills over time. The LIC covers six care domains: care of the pediatric patient, care of the ambulatory adult, care of the hospitalized adult, care of the surgical patient, care of the patient with obstetric or gynecologic needs, and care of the patient with behavioral health needs. For each care domain, there is a defined set of clinical content for students to experience to ensure consistency and equity in educational opportunities across regional campuses. Students have a half day of protected academic time each week when they gather on campus to present cases, review core clinical content, and participate in workshops to practice clinical skills. Students’ progress is monitored throughout the LIC.

Sub-internship and Clinical Rotations

The fourth-year curriculum consists of a series of more traditional block rotations, which allow students to further develop their clinical skills and to personalize their education based on a specialty of interest. These block rotations include a 4-week sub-internship (in one of six core disciplines: family medicine, internal medicine, general surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, or psychiatry), two other required 4-week rotations (in emergency medicine and care of underserved populations in either a rural or urban environment), and 24 weeks of elective rotations, each two or four weeks in duration. Students choose electives from more than 100 options, including rotations in most medical specialties in varied health care settings, domestic and international away rotations, research activities, and virtual courses. Students may design their own rotation to take with administrative approval. The fourth year also includes discretionary time for students to study for and take the USMLE Step 2 exam and to travel for residency interviews.

Scholarship and Discovery Project

All students are required to take the Foundations of Scholarship and Discovery (MEDSCHLR) 8-credit course series, during which they complete an original scholarship project. This self-directed project is an opportunity to delve deeply into a topic, or multiple topics, of interest to the student, either through traditional research or a creative project. Through this project, students learn critical and creative thinking skills necessary for making evidence-based clinical decisions.

In Year 1, the MEDSCHLR 500 courses introduce students to foundational principles of medical research and scholarship, including biostatistics. After Year 1, students take MEDSCHLR 520 and 540 where they experience the research and scholarship process and dedicate 135 hours per course to executing their projects. These courses are offered during the summer between the first and second year (520 only), the entire second year (520 or 540), the entire third year (520 and 540), and the first two terms of the fourth year (540 only). Courses must be completed sequentially and by the end of the fall term of Year 4.

Students are assigned a faculty advisor who must approve their project proposal prior to beginning the project and who will monitor their project progress. Students are also required to choose a faculty supervisor with expertise in their area of interest to work with on the project. Advisors and supervisors work to ensure students have the resources and support needed for a successful project and learning experience. Throughout the project, students collect artifacts that demonstrate their progress and learning in a final portfolio, which is used in project assessments. Projects are evaluated through a formative evaluation at the midpoint of each course and a pass/fail summative assessment at the end of each course.

Leadership Training and Capstone Project

In addition to research and scholarship, all students are required to take the Leadership in Medicine and Healthcare (MED LMH) 12-credit course series to receive training in leadership and business administration for collaborative, complex health care systems. Students take one credit per term, excluding the fourth term during the summer, throughout the four years of the program. Course work culminates in a capstone project, which is executed during the three Personal Leadership Development courses (MED LMH 531–533). Students earn a leadership certificate upon completing the course series and capstone project.

Tracking Core Competency Progress

Throughout the program, students’ progress toward meeting learning objectives and developing core competencies is continually monitored through a combination of self-directed assessment and learning and structured portfolios and coaching.

Self-Directed Assessment and Learning

Self-directed assessment and learning are a specific design feature of the curriculum. The ability to identify gaps in your own knowledge and performance, and to take steps to close those gaps, is essential for becoming a life-long learner and successful practicing physician. By taking an active role in their education, students improve their understanding and retention.

Faculty-designed course learning objectives are provided each week via E.Flo MD. These objectives are the basis for assessing your knowledge and performance. While faculty review most objectives with students, it is students’ responsibility to ensure they are meeting all objectives. Students are provided with time for self-directed learning each week to address any gaps in their knowledge or performance. If a student feels course content has not adequately “covered” an objective, it is their responsibility to seek out resources to address the gap, either from faculty or other sources. Faculty may curate additional readings to further support meeting learning objectives.

Portfolios and Coaching

Portfolios and coaching provide structured support for students throughout this process of self-assessment and learning. The College of Medicine portfolio is a four-year educational and assessment tool that provides a central place for students to collect feedback and other artifacts of their learning. Students use this material to monitor their progression toward meeting core competencies and to inform their continuous professional development.

Students are also assigned a pre-clerkship coach and clerkship coach to receive structured support and feedback. The primary role of coaches is to guide students in their learning and professional development. Coaches review portfolio materials to identify students’ strengths, challenges, and gaps in learning and professional development to help students develop self-assessment skills, set informed goals, and create learning plans to support those goals. Coaches also help students identify and access resources needed to support their learning.

Coaching Expectations

Coaching is a required component of the program, and students are expected to fully participate in the coaching process. Students connect with their pre-clerkship coach within the first week of the program and later transition to a clerkship coach.

Students meet with coaches at least two times per course, with additional meetings depending on course length and coach requests. Meetings will be scheduled during identified coaching blocks on the curriculum calendar. Students may request to reschedule until a week prior their meeting by contacting their coach and the Student Learning Center (medicine.slc@wsu.edu). Students who miss a coaching meeting will need an approved absence for the meeting to be considered excused and will need to connect with their coach to reschedule.

Prior to meetings, students are expected to review portfolio feedback and previously set goals to reflect on their progress and any gaps in learning or performance. Coaches and students work together to create a learning plan and identify any resources needed to support the plan. Students may be asked to submit written plans to their coaches as part of this process.