Year Two Courses

Digestive System

Duration:  5 weeks

This course is designed provide a comprehensive overview of the digestive system.  There is an integrated focus to include secretory, absorptive, obstructive, and functional disorders. Students will learn the normal functions and the disease processes affecting the digestive system, including the gastrointestinal tract, the hepatobiliary system and pancreas. As one of the largest systems in the body, diseases of these organs represent a major component of both primary and specialized healthcare with a substantial impact on medical economics.

Genitourinary & Endocrine Systems (GUE)

Duration:  8 weeks

This course is designed to present an integrated focus on urological, gynecologic, and endocrine disorders, as well as an overview of obstetrics, preventive care, and pediatrics.

Students will develop a basic understanding of the prevention, etiology (cause), pathogenesis (sequence of events), and consequences of human disease and disease processes.  This will encompass a wide array of established and evolving general subjects and disorders of the Genitourinary & Endocrine systems. 

Neurology, Psychiatry and Biostatics (NPB)

Duration:   14 weeks

This course is designed to present an integrated approach to the nervous system including both the neuroscience and behavioral components. Within the neuroscience component, basis neurophysiology and neuroanatomy will be correlated with clinical signs and symptoms.  The basic science material with also be correlated with neuropathology, pathophysiology, pharmacology, radiology, and information on the major classes of neurological disease as well as details on the most important clinical conditions seen in practice.

The behavioral component includes psychological aspects of normal development and the major classes of psychopathology, including psychopharmacology. Connections between neurological science and behavioral science are made wherever relevant.

The last unit before clinical rotations comprises a review of biostatistical concepts useful in the interpretation of journal articles that describe the impact of preventive and therapeutic interventions in clinical practice.

Health Equity and Social Justice II (HESJ II)

Duration:  first two years of medical school  
Health equity can be defined as the fair distribution of resources needed for health, fair access to opportunities, and fairness in the support offered to people when ill (Whitehead and Dahlgren. WHO 2006).  In an ever-changing healthcare landscape, population health and community outreach programs have become an important part of enhancing opportunities for health and wellness in the communities in which hospitals and healthcare centers play a vital role.

In this setting, students, trainees, medical educators, and healthcare policy experts are emphasizing the importance of addressing the social sciences in medical schools and training programs. Recognizing that the understanding of cultural and social determinants of health and healthcare disparities is an essential responsibility of health care providers.
This course aims to deepen awareness and understanding of these concepts, and to assist medical students in developing a skill set for addressing disparities. As a medical school with a deep commitment to serving the Newark community, the goal of this course and other integrated curricular efforts (Patient-Centered Medicine, Community Engaged Service Learning, and the clinical clerkships) is to mentor future leaders in modern clinical medicine and health equity research.

Community Engaged Service Learning (CESL)

Duration:  first two years of medical school
The course seeks to build upon and enhance a rich culture of service at NJMS by providing students with structured guidance for implementing meaningful, effective, and sustainable service projects that address the needs of Newark and surrounding communities. In addition, service learning experiences offer an invaluable opportunity for students to develop core skills in cultural competency, health education, patient advocacy, and community-engaged research and evaluation that will help them to develop into leaders in the medical field and in the communities they serve.
http://njms.rutgers.edu/education/OPCCI/cesl/index.cfm

Patient-Centered Medicine II (PCM II)

Duration:  first two years of medical school
This thread is to train medical students to perform a thorough and accurate medical history in a professional and patient centered manner while meeting the needs of diverse populations.  PCM thread is integrated within all the courses. Students learn topics such as medical interviewing and physical examination skills, ethics, humanism, and professionalism, written and oral presentations, clinical reasoning, self-reflection, and evidence-based medicine. 

Early longitudinal clinical experiences such as community preceptorship, virtual rounds, medical interviewing preceptorship, hospital preceptorship, and interprofessional educational opportunities provide the hands-on experience for students to develop their clinical skills, foster relationship with patients, and develop one own's professional identity.
http://njms.rutgers.edu/education/office_education/community_preceptorship/index.cfm  

Entrustable Professional Activities (EPA) Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)

Duration:  end of Year 1 and Year 2
Students have the opportunity to demonstrate competency in communication, history taking, physical examination, clinical reasoning, medical knowledge, and integration of these skills through interactions with standardized patients based on the AAMC Entrustable Professional Activities (EPA) guidelines.  There are 13 EPAs that all medical students are expected to perform upon entering residency regardless of their specialty.