New York Medical College

School of Medicine

First Year Curriculum

 

Gross and Developmental Anatomy
The study and practice of medicine rests on a thorough knowledge of anatomy. To assure that students are able to integrate the vast amount of factual material involved, the structural and functional relationships of organs and systems are presented in a multidisciplinary context. Members of other departments work with each department’s faculty to impart and interpret this large body of essential information and to emphasize an overall understanding of the relationships of the morphology and functions of the human body. In gross anatomy, the programs center on dissection and study of the human cadaver. In addition, residents, clinical faculty and guests from a variety of specialties and subspecialties participate in laboratory instruction and small group conferences to familiarize students with the clinical applications of the systems being dissected in the laboratory.

Histology and Cell Biology
The course in histology allows first-year students to explore the microscopic anatomy of the human body. Lectures correlate morphology and function at the molecular, cellular, tissue and organ levels, and relate cell biology and histology to disease processes. Lectures emphasize basic science studies that have greatly impacted the practice of medicine. Following lectures, groups of 20–22 students meet in laboratory sessions. The lecture topic is further explored by students viewing prepared slides of tissues and organs microscopically. Lab instructors scan a section and demonstrate pertinent details to two or four students, or to the entire group with a camera-mounted microscope connected to a monitor or LCD projector. Further demonstration of light or electron micrographs of structures related to the topics being studied can be visualized via computer-LCD connections of NYMC intranet and other internet web sites. Interaction between students and instructors is greatest in lab sessions for both the lecture and lab topics.

Biochemistry
Biochemistry is concerned with the structures and reactions of the cellular and tissue components. The course deals with fundamental aspects of the subject and covers the basic concepts required for understanding physiological and pathological conditions. The subject matter therefore includes the metabolism of major body constituents, enzymatic and hormonal control mechanisms, nucleic acids and protein synthesis and nutrition. Departmental seminars, usually featuring outside speakers, are held bimonthly. Interested students are welcome to attend.

Physiology
The objective of this course is to provide fundamental knowledge of physiological processes and their relationships to body function and disease states. The course is highly demanding because of time constraints which intensify the difficulty of mastering a large body of factual information and because students are asked to demonstrate proficiency in applying basic facts to problem solving. As a supplement to lectures, laboratories and conferences, small group tutorials are used to expose students to the scientific basis of physiological concepts and to foster cooperation between students and faculty. At the end of each major section of the course, clinical information is used to integrate physiological principles with medicine. The major topic areas covered are cell and muscle physiology, the cardiovascular system, renal physiology, respiratory physiology, endocrinology, and the gastrointestinal system. The format for these clinical correlation sessions is small group.

Neuroscience
This course is taught in an interdisciplinary context by the faculty of several different departments. In this way, information about the nervous system that would otherwise be presented in a piecemeal fashion by various departments can be coordinated, avoiding unnecessary repetition and enhancing the students’ understanding. In addition to faculty from the Departments of Anatomy, Physiology and Neurology, members of the Departments of Pharmacology, Pathology, Neurosurgery, Rehabilitation Medicine and Radiology participate. Lecturers from the clinical departments introduce topics and treatment of neural disorders. Clinical sessions are held in the Basic Sciences Building and as part of patient presentation at Westchester Medical Center. As a result of this collaboration, the neural science course successfully integrates material that is one-third physiology, one-third anatomy and one-third clinical correlates.

Behavioral Science
This course is presented over a 12-week period concurrently with neuroscience. Morning lectures cover a wide range of material in the behavioral sciences and psychiatry, and afternoons are largely devoted to student-patient contact, emphasizing the clinical correlation of basic sciences material. Lectures cover topics such as introduction to disordered behavior (psychopathology), neuro-physiologic basis of human behavior, the life cycle (incorporating prenatal development through senescence), sociocultural determinants of behavior, human sexual behavior, doctor-patient relationship, and healthcare delivery. The afternoon sessions represent one of the students’ first patient exposures. In groups of 8, the students interview psychiatric patients, medical patients and pediatric patients from the College’s affiliated hospitals.

Medical Ethics
New York Medical College has a comprehensive and thoroughly integrated program in ethics education. Projected through four years of the medical school curriculum, it begins with an introduction to ethical principles, focusing on an examination of the moral bases of decision-making and self-understanding in medicine. The second-year course focuses on skills in analyzing ethics cases. During the clerkship years, medical students develop clinical and communication skills fundamental for medical decisions, and are encouraged to participate in clinical ethics consults. Students may take an elective for indepth study of a particular ethical issue.

Biostatistics and Epidemiology
All medical students are taught basic principles of biostatistics and epidemiology during their first year by members of the faculty of the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine and School of Public Health. Emphasis is placed on interviewing skills, clinical problem-solving, and students learn statistical tests, principles of normal distribution, standard error and confidence limits, correlation, regressions, vital statistics and screening. Students also have ample opportunity to develop their skills in statistics and epidemiology and to apply their knowledge in this area during other courses given in medical school. This is a pass/fail course.

Introduction to Primary Care Seminars and Preceptorship
The course is designed to expose students to principles of primary care practice. All first-year students participate in required small-group seminars and preceptorships in the offices of practicing primary care physicians. Seminars, led by senior generalist faculty, allow students to discuss and analyze themes common to primary care practice. Topics include interviewing skills, clinical skills, ethics, cultural perspectives of health care, healthcare teams and community resources, preventive medicine, and food and nutrition.