This is a school for those who wish to train as physicians of excellence. We recognize that training to become members of the medical profession requires a commitment to the ideals and ethics of generations of physicians who have devoted their lives to the care of patients and communities. This school strives to carry on this tradition of excellence by incorporating a number of principles into its learning programs, so as to make these ideals more attainable to those who wish to take part in this great effort. These include the following:

1. Integrated learning

At this school you will study the tasks which confront medical practitioners, and work through the scientific underpinnings of those tasks, including the contributions of the sciences of physiology, biochemistry, anatomy, pathology, epidemiology, pharmacology, microbiology, psychology and other fields pertinent to the science of medicine.

2. Medical education

Faculty appointed to the school will consist of persons who can bestow upon students a sense of joy, devotion and enthusiasm for the practice of medicine. Students will work alongside physicians and learn from them, for the biggest motivator in medical studies is the expectation that you will eventually be able to undertake this great work yourself.

3. Practice-relevant learning

The design of our training program incorporates the actual day-to-day work of practicing physicians. Students will analyze those tasks, and work through the scientific reasoning that they involve. In this way they will learn only those things that are relevant to the practice of medicine, and that will enable them to be better physicians.

4. Participatory learning

The emphasis at this school is on LEARNING. For this reason, faculty will be selected based on their love for and knowledge of learning. Students will pass through learning experiences which will enable them to acquire the caring skills of physicians, whether the factual knowledge base, practical skills or attitudes; anything that translates into excellence in the work of a physician. There will be group learning experiences and practical work, with time planned for reflection, discussion and analysis, so as to acquire an understanding of the tasks involved.

5. Individualized learning

Students will maintain individual learning portfolios, so that their progress can be monitored, both by themselves and by the faculty. There will be frequent FEED-BACK, using multiple modalities, such as written tests, face-to-face oral examinations, personal assessments by faculty, written papers, assignments, student class presentations and practical operational research projects. Emphasis will be on meeting individual learning needs. Above all, students will be encouraged and tutored to learn INDEPENDENTLY, this being the hallmark of a good physician, and will be evaluated on their ability to do this. They will also evaluate their own learning accomplishments.

6. Students with special needs

Special attention is given by the faculty and in the curriculum to those who find these learning tasks more challenging. Society needs physicians who are close to the communities they serve; who understand the aspirations of and are comfortable serving all members of their communities, and not just those fortunate enough to have jobs and health insurance, own property, or have a college education. Medicine is about service excellence rather than about academic excellence. Communities want their physicians to understand them, be their advocates, provide compassionate and reliable care, in-other words to find joy in serving them. Our purpose is to put learning opportunities within the reach of all our students. They come from different backgrounds and traditions, and while it is expected that some students will acquire the skills faster than others and may move ahead in some areas, it is understood by the course planners that skills acquired more slowly or with greater struggle are in no way inferior skills.

7. Service orientation

To learn how to serve people, one of the valuable content areas of the curriculum will consist in doing just that: learning from the real problems of real people. Our students will be required to learn by serving the health needs of communities and of individuals. This experience will be part of the process of learning medicine. Service is learning.

8. Cumulative learning

Learning is a vertical process. It brings a sense of achievement in itself, but also serves as the basis for new learning. The curriculum is designed to take this into account. The stages of learning are built up in a sequential manner, later learning being dependent on previous accomplishments. In this way there is constant reinforcement of earlier material. The same consideration applies to the evaluation of learning. Students understanding will be evaluated, rather than their recall of facts.

9. Research

This school is devoted to learning. Students are given the opportunity to learn the techniques of research, inasmuch as these techniques are an integral part of medical practice, which can be applied to the problems of providing health care. In this university such techniques are valued as a learning tool to solve the many individual health problems which have no clear textbook answers. In addition, students will learn to access and use the results of studies undertaken in designated research centers, and to apply these results to medical practice.

10. Medicine & Society

It is recognized that there is much debate about what is the best means of delivering health care services to the population. It is essential that students of medicine be conversant with all sides of this debate, and the ongoing development of health care in industrialized countries, such as the United States, and the lessons that can be learnt from systems in operation elsewhere. In this way they will be ready to engage in a meaningful dialogue with stakeholders. The problems of community health will therefore be given proportional weighting in the curriculum with those of personal health care services.