Synopsis of Curriculum

The curriculum of TUCOM-CA stresses the interdependence of the biological, clinical, behavioral and social sciences. Emphasis is on the education of physicians for primary care medicine and the specific roles of osteopathic principles in the maintenance of health and treatment of disease. The TUCOM-CA curriculum is a continuously evolving educational program designed and developed by the faculty to meet the ever changing demands of medical education and the mission of TUCOM. New courses and changes in existing course work are initiated by the faculty in their respective departments and are approved by the Curriculum Committee and the Dean.

The educational program is centered on the basic concepts of osteopathic medicine. The academic program is intended to meet the following goals:

I. To emphasize the role of the patient in the maintenance of health.

II. To recognize and emphasize the inherent capacity within each person to overcome disease and maintain health; to educate physicians to cooperate with this therapeutic capacity in their methods of treatment.

III. To offer a curriculum that will interest students in primary care and prepare them to provide quality, and comprehensive health care to their patients.

IV. To provide sufficient academic training to make students analyze health-care decisions, promote wellness, and empower patients to assume responsibility for their own health.

A primary care physician must first of all be capable of problem solving and the development of expertise in diagnosis. In order to achieve this goal, the curriculum adopted at TUCOM-CA emphasizes the integration of basic and clinical science aspects of medical practice. With this approach, practice in problem solving becomes a part of the daily classroom clinic experience. The TUCOM-CA Faculty has adopted the following core competencies which will guide curriculum development and assessment.

• Osteopathic Philosophy and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine
• Medical Knowledge
• Patient Care
• Interpersonal and Communication skills
• Professionalism
• Practice-based learning and improvement
• Systems-based practice

The curriculum includes two principal phases:

I. Teaching of the fundamentals of basic sciences, followed by the study of the organ systems of the body, incorporating both basic and clinical sciences. This is integrated with an osteopathic approach to the art and science of doctoring including the fundamentals of history-taking, physical diagnosis, primary care skills, and osteopathic principles, practice, and philosophy.

II. Clinical experience and clinical clerkships

Description of Courses

Courses are subject to change through normal academic channels. New courses and changes in existing course work are initiated by the responsible departments, recommended by the Curriculum Committee and approved by the Dean.

Curriculum In-Depth

For Classes Up To & Including the Class of 2010 (pdf)

For Classes Beginning with the Graduating Class of 2011 (pdf)

Elective Courses (pdf)

Clinical Rotations Curriculum