Student Handbook
- First Year
· Gross and Developmental Anatomy
· Histology and Cell Biology
· Biochemistry
· Physiology
· Neuroscience
· Behavioral Science
· Medical Ethics
· Computer Literacy
· Biostatistics and Epidemiology
· Introduction to Primary Care Seminars and Preceptorship - Second Year
· Pathology/Pathophysiology
· Medical Microbiology
· Pharmacology
· Clinical Skills - Third Year
- Fourth Year
First Year
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 smallgroup 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 normal microanatomy 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. Several lectures are also presented that focus on recent published research articles. Students receive these papers prior to lectures accompanied by outlines of details that will be presented in the lecture. The impact of this information on the practice of medicine is emphasized.
Following lectures, small 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 can scan a section and demonstrate pertinent details to two or four students, or 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 given at New York Medical College 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. Because time constraints 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, the course is a demanding one. 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 physiology, the cardiovascular system, renal-respiratory biology, 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, Radiology and the Westchester Institute for Human Development participate. Lecturers from the clinical departments introduce topics and treatment of neural disorders. Clinical sessions, held either in the Basic Sciences Building or as part of patients. 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 twelve-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 health care delivery.
The afternoon sessions represent one of the students’ first patient exposures. In small groups of eight, the students interview psychiatric patients, medical patients and child 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. The program continues through the clerkship years, providing the opportunity for medical students to develop clinical and communication skills fundamental for medical decisions. Students may take an elective for in-depth 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 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
All first-year students participate in required small-group seminars and preceptorships in practicing, primary care physicians’ offices designed to expose students to principles of primary care practice. Seminars, led by senior generalist faculty, allow students to discuss and analyze themes common to primary care practice. Topics include clinical skills, ethics, cultural perspectives of health care, health care teams and community resources, preventive medicine, and food and nutrition.
Second Year
Pathology/Pathophysiology
The Department of Pathology provides the College’s clinical services with a constant fl ow of information based on knowledge gained in the investigation of disease processes. This knowledge, promptly and skillfully interpreted, is essential to the maintenance of quality health care for the communities we serve.
The Pathology/Pathophysiology courses I (fall semester) and II (spring semester) for medical students serve as a bridge between the basic sciences and clinical medicine. Conducted by the Department of Pathology, they incorporate educational programs of various clinical departments, predominantly those of the Department of Medicine but also of others — such as the departments of Neurology, Surgery and Dermatology — and are coordinated with the Microbiology, Pharmacology, and Clinical Skills courses. The Pathology/ Pathophysiology teaching program consists of several integrated components such as lectures, programmed self-instruction that includes utilization of computer-based learning materials, clinico-pathological correlation exercises in modules (one instructor with approximately 20 students), problem-solving exercises (one instructor with approximately ten students), and exposure to hospital-based autopsy, surgical and clinical pathology practice with demonstrations of abnormal human biology. The course structure, in which the role of conventional lectures is significantly diminished and exercises involving student-faculty interactions assume a prominent role, refl ects an orientation toward enhancement of active student participation and student responsibility in the learning process.
Medical Microbiology
The medical microbiology course is designed to give the second-year student insight into the fundamentals of microbiology and immunology with emphasis on their relationship to human biology and disease. The orientation of the course is toward an understanding of the biology of pathogenic microorganisms. The principles of microbial pathogenicity are therefore presented from the perspective of the agents and the several strategies they utilize to colonize successfully and to establish infection. The subjects covered are the basic properties of microorganisms, their physiology and genetics, the mode of action of antibiotic and chemotherapeutic agents at the cellular level, and the biologic and immunologic responses of the host to infections. The microorganisms studied in this course include bacteria, fungi, mycoplasmas, rickettsiae, chlamydia, viruses and parasites. Emphasis is placed on emerging and re-emerging diseases. Integration of lectures, laboratory work, visual aids, self-study, group discussions and clinical correlations help students learn the concepts and techniques essential to diagnose, treat and prevent infectious disease.
Individual research projects and electives in the fields of microbiology and immunology are available to medical students.
Graduate-level and techniques courses in the several specialties represented by the department’s faculty are also open to qualified medical students. Those interested are urged to consult the current Graduate School listings and speak to individual faculty members about their research interests and projects.
Pharmacology
The Medical Pharmacology course stresses key principles of pharmacological science (pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and toxicity) while describing the chemistry, mechanism of action, clinical uses and adverse effects of important medicines, drugs of abuse and toxic agents. The primary goals are to provide future physicians with a strong foundation in pharmacological knowledge that will allow them to: 1) obtain optimal benefit from their clinical years of instruction; 2) build pharmacological expertise throughout their careers; and 3) critically evaluate the merits of new and old drugs in the future. Students should note that Medical Pharmacology provides a novel integrative review of broad areas of biomedical science in the context of clinical therapeutics. Thus, the course reinforces prior basic science instruction and illustrates practical applications of such knowledge in a timely manner (just before the start of clinical rotations).
Clinical Skills
This course has been designed to provide students with a variety of learning opportunities to master the skills of performing an accurate and thorough history and physical examination. Students initially work with faculty in small groups to practice taking medical histories and performing the basics of the physical examination. In addition, students learn key elements for effectively communicating with patients. Students participate in role plays and interactive exercises to work on these clinical skills. In addition to these small groups, students work with “Harvey,” a mannequin which simulates heart sounds and murmurs, and standardized patients to learn the gynecologic, breast and genitourinary exams. Time has also been allotted for self-study utilizing recommended videos, CDs, and web-based sites to allow each student to progress at their own pace. During the second half of the course, students work under preceptor supervision at a variety of office or hospital-based sites taking histories and performing physicals. Each student is expected to learn how to take a complete and accurate history and physical exam, begin to recognize both normal and abnormal findings, and to present these findings in an orderly and informative fashion. This is a pass/fail course.
Third Year
The third year consists of clinica l clerkships in: Medicine (12 weeks), Surgery (8 weeks), Pediatrics (8 weeks), Obstetrics and Gynecology (6 weeks), Psychiatry (6 weeks), Neurology (4 weeks), Family Medicine (4 weeks) and Community and Preventive Medicine (2 weeks). The aim of these clerkships is to provide students with the opportunity and instruction to develop the foundation for, and begin the development of, their skills in the evaluation, care and treatment of patients. Students are assigned by computer lottery to a major teaching hospital for each clerkship. Here, they function as members of a team with attending physicians, residents and interns on the services. Through a combination of tutorials, conferences, seminars, lectures and teaching rounds, students learn to apply to clinical situations the knowledge they have acquired in their pre-clinical and behavioral sciences courses, broaden their knowledge of the pathophysiology and of the clinical manifestations of disease processes, develop their interviewing and physical examination techniques, and begin to assume responsibility under supervision for the workup and treatment of patients.
Rotations through these teaching hospitals, which include every socioeconomic setting, provide our students with exposure to a wide variety of healthcare problems ranging from those encountered in the inner-city ghettos to suburbia.
Fourth Year
The fourth year provides fourteen weeks of required clinical experiences: medical or pediatric subinternship (4 weeks), surgical sub-specialities (4 weeks), geriatrics (4 weeks), anesthesiology (1 week), rehabilitation medicine (1 week), and twenty-eight weeks of electives. Students plan their elective program with the aid and advice of a faculty advisor and a member of the Dean’s office. Electives may be taken at the medical school and its affiliated hospitals or at other medical schools, teaching hospitals and medically related institutions.
