95,000-square-foot facility to complement revised curriculum
The University of Florida introduced their newest building on Tuesday, July 28th. The George T. Harrell, M.D., Medical Education Building is located at 1104 Newell Drive, across from the McKnight Brain Institute. The 95,000-square-foot facility will serve as a home for medical and physician assistant students in the College of Medicine.
The building has been designed to compliment the College’s revised curriculum, a more patient-centered experience that integrates biomedical science with social and behavioral sciences, public health and clinical care throughout the curriculum.
Areas of emphasis of the new curriculum include:
- Context-based – students learn in the context in which they will apply their skills and knowledge.
- Active learning – students enhance their skills in application and problem solving through experiential, collaborative and team-based learning.
- Early introduction of clinical concepts and expedited entry into the patient care setting.
- Self-directed learning – more responsibility for learning will be placed on the student as they define their personal and professional goals.
- Integration of concepts of culture, community, professionalism, and public health in all levels of medical education.
- Evidence based medical practice, patient safety and quality
New Elements Include:
- Integrated approach to learning communication and clinical skills with biomedical, social and behavioral sciences.
- A new service-learning requirement within the first 18 months of medical school will help increase a student’s exposure and commitment to community health.
- An expanded clinical preceptorship — five weeks of immersive clinical experience prior to student’s beginning formal clinical clerkships.
- Expanded exposure to population health and health care policy throughout the four-year curriculum.
- Expanded focus on evidence-based medical practice, safety and quality.
- New education modules that use a patient focused approach and integrate disciplines within an organ system structure.
- Clinical clerkships that traditionally begin the summer after the student’s second year will now begin two months earlier.
- White Coat Ceremony moved from the end of second year to December of first year aligning with beginning of first preceptorship
- Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory implemented in August 2010 to allow students to focus on learning rather than the grade. This has helped foster collaborative learning and decreased competition.
- Fewer lectures and more small group, collaborative learning experiences are offered.
- Groups of eight students are assigned to one clinical faculty who facilitate weekly discussion and problem solving sessions and serve as mentors for three years.
