Medical Curriculum
A complete listing of the medical curriculum can be found at the VCU Medical School website. The important and unique features of the VCU curriculum are as follows:
- Block scheduled rather than semester oriented. That is, there are, at most, two courses being conducted at the same time and usually there is a single course. That course runs to completion and then the next course starts, continuing throughout the school year. This allows students to focus on a single major area before moving on to the next. Exams are scheduled throughout each course so that students can assess their progress and get help if they are below the standards required of the MD/PhD Program.
- Organ-system based. Courses in the M-II year emphasize the major human organ systems rather than being organized by molecular and physiologic processes. Course titles such as cardiovascular, renal, pulmonary and musculoskeletal focus on that entire system from the molecular to clinical presentation, in health and disease. Pathology and pharmacology are taught throughout the year, integrated into the appropriate organ system.
The combination of block scheduling and an organ-system approach to teaching encourages students to think of disease as it presents clinically, tying molecular biology, physiology, pharmacology and pathology to specific disease entities.
