The degree of Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.), granted to graduates of osteopathic medical schools, demonstrates to the public that these physicians have received a complete medical education grounded in the general principles of osteopathic medicine, the interrelatedness of mind, body, and spirit, as articulated by its founder, Dr. Andrew Taylor Still, and the American Osteopathic Association.
Consistent with osteopathic philosophy and training, the majority of osteopathic physicians practice in primary care specialties or with underserved populations. Osteopathic physicians provide both preventive and curative services to patients on a comprehensive and continuing basis. Recognizing the interrelatedness of mind, body, and spirit to each individual’s state of health, osteopathic medicine, with its patient-centered focus, embodies both conventional and complementary approaches to patient care.
In addition to the primary care specialties (e.g., Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Geriatric Medicine), many osteopathic physicians choose residency training in other medical and surgical specialties, and in settings such as active military practice, hospitalist care, and academic health centers. All 50 states in the USA and more than 60 countries offer unlimited medical licensure to qualified osteopathic physicians.
CURRICULUM OVERVIEW
NOTE: Medical education is continuously evolving in alignment with best practices for learning and teaching. To maintain the most up-to-date, productive learning environment for our students, UNE COM reserves the right to revise and amend as appropriate the policies and practices described in this catalog.
The UNE COM curriculum is designed to provide the student with a strong foundation in medical skills and knowledge; to foster osteopathic physicians who are skilled in health promotion, illness prevention, and care of patients with acute and chronic conditions. To that end, UNE COM provides an innovative, interdisciplinary and interprofessional, patient-focused curriculum that cultivates life-long, self-directed, evidence-based learning and professional development in our graduates.
Our progressive, integrated four-year curriculum aligns educational activities with the principles of adult learning to maximize the attainment and retention of knowledge, skills, and attitudes crucial to the delivery of health care in the 21st century.
Pre-Clerkship Education
UNE COM students spend the first two years of the program on the University of New England campus in Biddeford, Maine. Designed with a strong emphasis on teamwork and the application of knowledge and skills, the curriculum is delivered through a series of large and small group learning activities combined with team-based and independent experiential learning in physicians’ offices, hospitals, extended care facilities, and health centers. Scheduled learning sessions include traditional didactic lectures, interactive problem-solving sessions, facilitated case-based learning, patient case study discussions, hands-on laboratory exercises, panel discussions, demonstrations, simulation experiences, and clinically focused encounters with standardized and real patients. Medical students work closely with students from UNE’s other health professions programs including dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, physician’s assistant, and social work to engage in interprofessional education and collaboration in simulations labs, conferences, panel discussions, and other activities. Learning activities are constructed to provide students with opportunities to develop and demonstrate strong foundations in clinical skills, basic biomedical, and social sciences, which are applicable to the rapidly changing practice of medicine. A thorough grounding in the manual skills of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) is provided in the first two years, and supplemented, reinforced, and expanded in years 3 and 4.
Student preparation before class and active participation in class, are consistent elements in the learning dynamic throughout the curriculum. An open, free-flowing dialog between faculty and students is valued and encouraged.
Progressive, level-appropriate mastery of the seven Core Competencies identified by the American Osteopathic Association serves as the educational outcome of the curriculum. The competencies include:
- Osteopathic Principles and Practice: The student will understand and apply osteopathic principles to patient care.
- Medical Knowledge: The student will demonstrate knowledge of established biomedical, epidemiological, social, and behavioral sciences and their application to patient care.
- Patient Care: The student will have the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to provide compassionate, appropriate and effective patient care.
- Interpersonal and Communication Skills: The student will demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that result in respectful and effective interactions with patients, families, and colleagues.
- Professionalism: The student will demonstrate a commitment to conducting themselves in an ethical and sensitive manner.
- Practice-Based Learning and Improvement: The student will demonstrate the ability to investigate and evaluate patient care practices using scientific evidence and apply these to patient care.
- Systems-Based Practice: The student will demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and systems of health care, to provide care of optimal value.
High-quality laboratory and educational facilities provide a stimulating venue for learning activities /com/about/facilities. The specially constructed Leonard Hall redefines the typical medical school teaching and learning environment by creating an intentional space that fosters group dialogue, case-based study, and interactive connection using emerging technologies. The Harold Alfond Center for Health Sciences houses laboratories, lecture halls, and clinical skills training spaces that place UNE COM at the national forefront of health and life sciences education. The Donor Lab (including cadaveric dissection) is an advanced facility where students work in teams and engage with clinical and anatomy faculty as they learn from their “first patients.” The Manipulative Medicine and Clinical Skills Lab is spacious and well designed with the latest technological support. The Clinical Performance Center is an interactive clinical skills teaching, testing and learning facility with a well-established Standardized Patient Program. The Clinical Simulation Center is a state-of-the-art facility designed for interprofessional learning opportunities, team-based interactions, meaningful debriefing, and student reflection.
Clerkship Education
The last two years of predoctoral training focuses on experiential learning in a clinical setting to further develop individual learning, interprofessional and team skills, and expand clinical acumen.
Students spend the entire third-year at one of our affiliated Clinical Campuses. The UNE COM Clinical Campuses form a consortium of community-based education sites, to provide students with a strong foundation in general medicine. Each clinical campus consists of one or more healthcare facilities within a specific geographic region, that allows coordinated delivery of the core clinical training experiences in varied care level settings. The College’s Clinical Campuses base their training programs in community hospitals, private physician offices, and community health centers throughout the Northeast, representing the environments in which many UNE COM graduates will eventually practice. Ambulatory care programs train students in office practice and familiarize them with the collaborative roles and skills of non-physician health care providers.
Illustrative of its primary care and general medicine focus, UNE COM’s third-year curriculum provides clinical training in family medicine, general surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, and psychiatry. Each clinical campus provides the patient base, didactic and experiential learning opportunities, supervisory infrastructure, and longitudinal evaluation necessary for the accomplishment of the educational goals of core clerkships. Standardization of curriculum and learning objectives provides a consistent experience across the different locations within the clinical campus system. Each student is also engaged in interprofessional activities, as well as exposure to learning activities with residents in various residency programs. The College’s Clinical Campuses are located in the New England states, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Completion of the third-year curriculum provides students with a strong foundation in general medicine as they enter their final year of medical school. Year 4 students continue their learning with selective and elective clinical rotations at UNE COM-approved programs of their choice. While community hospitals form the core of the Year 3 clinical rotations, affiliations with specialty focused facilities allow fourth-year students to pursue a range of clinical experiences. Many of these hospitals also provide Graduate Medical Education (GME) and are often members of UNE’s educational collaborative, the Northeast Osteopathic Medical Education Network (NEOMEN). Please see the Core predoctoral clinical clerkship affiliates for more information. The list of Clinical Campuses is subject to change and may vary from year to year.
Postgraduate Education
UNE COM enjoys an educational affiliation with a number of postgraduate residency programs, through partnerships in the Northeast Osteopathic Medical Education Network (NEOMEN). The college and NEOMEN serve as a liaison with the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) to promote residency training, advise and assist with residency development, and partner with affiliated programs for training in Osteopathic Principles and Practices. UNE COM graduates apply to these and other programs for residency training.
Concurrent Graduate Degree Program
UNE COM offers medical students the opportunity of pursuing a concurrent graduate degree in Public Health while pursuing the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree.