New York University Long Island School of Medicine

Medical Education Program Highlights The New York University Long Island School of Medicine (NYULISOM), located in Mineola, New York, is devoted to educating primary care physicians of the highest quality and who will become leaders of both our community’s and nation’s health care system. The innovative 3-year curriculum provides students with a scientifically rigorous learning environment founded on the principles of translational science, population health, outstanding clinical science, and application of health systems science. Notable features: The small class size (40 maximum per class) promotes a collaborative and highly favorable faculty–student learning environment. Longitudinally vertical and horizontal integration of basic, clinical, and health systems sciences is implemented across the 3-year curriculum, with problem-based learning (PBL) as a core teaching methodology and use of plastinated cadavers along with autopsy exposure for anatomy instruction. Integral to the transformative curriculum that streamlines the flow from medical school into residency, accepted applicants are offered an early, conditionally guaranteed residency opportunity through the National Resident Matching Program in one of our linked primary care residency specialties of internal medicine, obstetrics–gynecology, pediatrics, or surgery. Longitudinal academic coaching occurs from day 1. These sessions are designed to assess the student needs, identify areas for improvement and assistance, and plan strategies to achieve academic and career goals. Coaches use our state-of-the-art educational dashboard to review progress and help develop a professional portfolio. Curriculum Curriculum description The 3-year curriculum is distributed over 3 phases. Phase I is the preclinical year and Phases II and III are the clinical years. Phase I (46 weeks) lays a foundation of integrating basic, clinical, and health systems sciences with patient care. It starts with an introduction to core basic science concepts (language acquisition) with case-based clinical learning exercises, along with immersion in integrated clinical skills training that provides the bedside clinical skills needed to become a competent doctor. Morning classes in general are dedicated to core principles of medicine, held in small- and large-group formats, which stimulate discussions and critical thinking around the fundamental basic medical sciences through an organ systems approach. The organ systems are cardiology, respiratory, renal, gastroenterology, endocrine–reproductive, musculoskeletal–rheumatology–dermatology, brain–mind–behavior, and hematology–oncology. PBL sessions engage students through a self-directed process with facilitators, while providing the clinical relevance of the basic sciences. The afternoons are reserved for the longitudinal courses and expose students to the practice of health care delivery and health systems science. Practice of medicine (POM) course sessions convey the essential skills in medical interviewing and bedside examinations. These skills are aligned to the morning morphology of anatomy, histology, pathology, and radiology longitudinal thread, and reinforced through the continuity ambulatory practice experience (CAPE), where students learn the key issues relevant to the actual care of patients. Our high-tech clinical simulation exercises provide further useful feedback to hone the requisite clinical skills for a primary care physician. During the Learning Communities-Social Science Humanities Ethics and Professionalism (LC-SHEP) course, students are exposed via discussion groups to the critical aspects of professionalism, medical ethics, moral reasoning, and medical jurisprudence. In the Health Systems Science (HSS) course, students will develop a fundamental understanding of how health care is delivered; how health care providers work together; and strategies to deliver safer, higher-quality patient care, in addition to learning the essentials of critically appraising and applying the medical literature to patient care. Through these integrated collective learning venues, students will gain insight into the behavioral, moral, and social aspects of medicine and develop the knowledge and skills needed during the clinical curriculum to interact with patients, health care providers, and the health care system. Phase II (49 weeks) is dedicated to clerkships in medicine, neurology and rehabilitation medicine, obstetrics–gynecology, pediatrics, primary care, psychiatry, and surgery. During this phase, students develop the clinical skills necessary to diagnose disease and treat patients. On a weekly basis, students continue to take part in one of the longitudinal educational experiences of CAPE, HSS, and LC-SHEP. This phase ends with the Capstone 1 course, dedicated to a comprehensive review of basic science concepts and their application to clinical practice, helping students prepare for the USMLE Step 1 examination. Phase III (37 weeks) begins with a 3-week Capstone 2 course, a structured review of clinical science concepts and their application to the POM. Students will also participate in a comprehensive clinical skills exam with series of mock patient encounters that assess skills in communication, taking patient histories, conducting physical examinations, and clinical reasoning—all in preparation for the USMLE Step 2 examinations. During this last phase of the curriculum, students will participate in advanced clinical skills development by completing required rotations in emergency medicine, subinternship, critical care, diagnostics and therapeutics (2 weeks of advanced applications of clinical and pharmacological management principles in the care of patients), transition to residency (specialty-driven skills development), and a Capstone 3 course whereby students present system science–based projects that arose out of observed opportunities for improvement encountered over the 3 years, along with electives. Throughout this phase, students also continue with the longitudinal educational experiences in the HSS, CAPE, and LC-SHEP courses. See Supplemental Digital Appendix 1—Curriculum Overview—at https://links.lww.com/ACADMED/A966. Assessment The medical education program objectives are based primarily on the AAMC Core Entrustable Professional Activities (Core EPAs) with minor revisions incorporating aspects of the CanMEDS Framework to align with the mission and vision of NYULISOM. The critical competencies mapped to our program objectives are driven from the Physician Competency Reference Set competencies using the AAMC recommendations as the benchmark. Developmental milestones using the Dreyfus model of novice to expert were devised to determine the desired behaviors of pre-entrustment vs entrustment. The course objectives are linked to the critical competencies, and course goals act as the framework to develop the learning objectives, which are assessed throughout the curriculum. See Table 1—Program Objectives and Assessment Methods.Table 1: Program Objectives and Assessment MethodsPedagogy See Table 2—Major Pedagogical Approaches.Table 2: Major Pedagogical ApproachesClinical experiences All of the required student clinical experiences occur on campus in the hospital wards and outpatient clinics at the NYU Winthrop Hospital and its local, community-affiliated clinical training sites or faculty practices. Clinical and nonclinical longitudinally required experiences occur throughout the 3-year curriculum. Once a week, students take part in 1 of the following experiences: CAPE, HSS course, and learning communities. The clinical experience in the curriculum starts from the beginning of medical school. Through their CAPE course students join faculty physicians in medical offices or nearby ambulatory care clinics, 1 to 2 afternoons per month. These clinical experiences include geriatrics, internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics–gynecology, and after 6 months, students are paired with a preceptor in their chosen primary care specialty for the remainder of the 3-year curriculum. Students also acquire ambulatory clinical experiences throughout Phases II and III. In addition, oral health education and training is received in collaboration with the Department of Family Dental Medicine. Students additionally are exposed to inpatient clinical experiences throughout the curriculum starting in Phase I during their bedside teaching sessions as part of the POM course and recurring in Phases II and III while students are on their clerkships, subinternships, critical care, and electives/selectives. Curricular Governance The primary responsibility, governance, and management of the curriculum reside with the Evolving Physician Education Committee (EPEC), a faculty policy committee in the School of Medicine. EPEC is advisory to the dean, who has the overall authority for the educational program. The vice dean, appointed by the dean, serves as chair of EPEC. Members to EPEC are both appointed by the dean and elected from the general full-time teaching faculty, as well as student representation, one from each phase of the curriculum. See Figure 1—Curricular governance.Figure 1: Curricular governance.The following subcommittees and working group report to EPEC: The Curriculum Integration and Review Team (CIRT), a working group chaired by the associate dean for medical education, serves as the intermediate monitor of the curriculum and as such has responsibility for reviewing of the school’s educational program, the core curriculum, educational outcomes and delivery, and assessment methods of individual courses before presentation to EPEC. A major task of CIRT is to manage and align the horizontal and vertical integration of the curriculum. Phase I and Phase II/III Subcommittees are composed of first-year course directors and clinical/clerkship directors, respectively, as well as longitudinal course and thread directors and are charged to oversee quality and discuss common issues such as policy, pedagogy, and educational technology and course evaluations. The Assessment and Evaluation Subcommittee’s charge is to ensure a strong alignment between the program, phase, course, and learning objectives with the appropriate assessment rubrics and tools. All 3 subcommittees direct quality improvement through their recommendations to the EPEC and through their interactions with the faculty. See Figure 2—Education organizational chart.Figure 2: Education organizational chart.Education Staff The Office of Medical Education provides the administrative and academic support for the planning, coordination, implementation, oversight, and assessment and evaluation of the curriculum and its educational committees. It is responsible for supporting the educational deans and core teaching faculty, and for the development and maintenance of the education tools and technology to support curriculum delivery, monitoring, and management. The office consists of a director, a manager for registration and student records, 5 courses/clerkships coordinators, and a full-time educational technology/instructional design professional. Faculty Development and Support in Education Faculty at NYULISOM have multiple professional development opportunities to enhance their teaching skills and foster career growth. The institution hosts live events such as grand rounds and half-day and full-day workshops and also disseminates upcoming webinars with speakers who are content experts on instructional methods, assessment techniques, and leadership attributes. Core teaching faculty receive structured peer observations with tailored, objective feedback delivered in real time. Opportunities for educational grants are made available to all faculty. Presentation at local and national academic meetings and involvement in local and national medical education societies and organizations are encouraged by the Office of Faculty Affairs. Faculty receive mentorship on manuscript preparation and revisions as needed to increase academic publications in peer-reviewed medical education journals. All early- to mid-level career full-time faculty receive a designated mentor to guide professional development toward academic promotion. The faculty educator track recognizes faculty with a high level of commitment to the teaching mission beyond what is expected from the average faculty member. Accepted activities include leadership and administrative roles in educational programs, development of new and innovative curricula, substantive teaching responsibilities, development of unique educational tools and resources, and scholarly or pedagogical work in the field. Faculty may qualify for promotion based upon distinguished contributions to the educational mission without publications. Evidence of such contributions should be documented in an academic portfolio and may include distinguished leadership of a medical school course, residency, or fellowship program; number of hours invested per semester; number of courses; or extent of involvement in the educational continuum. Promotion also requires documentation of the effectiveness of teaching as evidence by evaluations, and in the judgment of students, trainees, and peers. Teaching awards (departmental, hospital, school, university, national) and documentation of the effectiveness of teaching programs would be expected. The Faculty Scholars Program at NYULISOM offers medical school faculty the opportunity to advance their teaching skills and develop curricula that effectively deliver high-quality, evidence-based medical education. The program offers 2 pathways: an educator pathway (12 months) and a researcher pathway (18 months). Participants are nominated by their departmental leaders, are expected to attend educational sessions, and will complete self-guided assignments on topics such as learning theories, collaborative learning methods, instructional models for designing courses, and how to be an effective leader and mentor in academic environments. Those in the researcher pathway also gain experience searching and appraising literature about medical education, designing research studies, analyzing data, and presenting and publishing research findings

Medical education · Health and Medical Research Impacts · Health Sciences Research and Education · Innovations in Medical Education · Medicine · Gerontology