The faculty of the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine emphasizes ongoing review and adaptation of our educational programs to meet the needs of graduates as they enter the profession of medicine. In considering the design of the curriculum, faculty are responsible for the social needs and demands of students while remaining current with modern science and technology. This process of change and evolution in the curricular program is one that is ongoing.
There is a great deal of excitement regarding a series of innovations that have been initiated over the last several years, and will continue in the implementation process over the upcoming years. These modifications developed out of a series of discussions that included faculty, students, administrators, and graduates of the College.
In order to address the clinical needs of an ever-diversifying patient population, the Morsani College of Medicine seeks to empower students with an appreciation of cultural diversity and the importance of treating patients with sensitivity.
The curricular program of the Morsani College of Medicine is one in which there is integration of basic science and clinical medicine across all four years: more basic science is emphasized earlier in the program and more clinical medicine is emphasized later in the program.
Through careful planning, an effort will be made to use the fundamental knowledge of the basic sciences in a meaningful relation to career goals in medicine. Although during the first and second years the emphasis will be on the sciences basic to medicine, clinical medicine is well integrated into the curriculum. Clinical medicine will be the focus during the third year. The opportunity to advance in both fields in a correlated fashion will be offered in the elective period of the fourth year. The introduction of physical diagnosis and clinical medicine in the first and second years and the opportunity to select basic science electives during the elective year, are of special significance for modern medicine since there is widespread recognition that delay between scientific discovery and its clinical application is too long and must be shortened. It is expected that graduates of the present program will have less difficulty in retaining a true feeling for a close relationship between basic medical science and its clinical application.