Week One

Orientation

I.                     The entering class is matriculated into the School of Medicine with an “Acceptance Ceremony”.  In this ceremony the Dean of the School may bestow upon each student his/her white coat.

II.                   During the first week of school students from all curricular tracks meet in small groups and discuss the School of Medicine Honor Code and other related orientation issues.  Through this small group process students are encouraged to explore and identify their own values and beliefs.  Each student is encouraged to investigate personal areas of harmony or conflict with the School of Medicine’s Honor Code.

III.                  After the white coat ceremony, the remainder of the first week of the curriculum includes wellness education for the student, facilitation of the development of “healthy behaviors”, and a self-assessment of the student’s current personal and ethical development.

IV.                Presentation Covering the Legal Aspects of Professional Behavior

A.                  Harassment

B.                  Cheating on exams

C.                  Honesty

1.                   Scientific Misconduct

2.                   Responsibilities of authorship

3.                   Privileged Information

4.                   Crediting previous workers, collaborators, students

5.                   Deportment in laboratories, classrooms and clinical settings

Week 2 through  Week 48

Regular small group discussions regarding ethical, professional and personal developmental issues.  These small groups should cross-curricular tracks and include written case scenarios or student generated examples.  Topics can include:

Honesty

Intra/Interpersonal Relationships

Physician-Patient Relationship

A.      Cheating

A.      Chemical dependency

A.      Tolerance and support of patients with beliefs different than those of the student's

B.      Testing (i.e. SP’s)

B.      Racism/Sexism/Alternative Lifestyles

B.      Bias in the Physician-patient relationship

C.      Dealing with unethical behavior

C.      Handling criticism without extreme defensiveness

C.      Confidentiality, including hall talk and casual conversations

D.      Facilitating the development of intellectual self confidence which allows the student to prioritize the welfare of his/her patient and pursue their own intellectual growth

D.      Dissection of the Human Body

Day One

Orientation

I.                     Ethical and Professional Behavior Within the Curriculum

A.                   Test taking behavior

B.                   Conduct in teaching laboratories

C.                  Resource utilization

II.                    Ethical and Professional Behavior in the Basic Sciences

A.                   Working with pharmaceutical representatives

B.                   Accepting ‘freebies’ from pharmaceutical representatives and companies

C.                  Writing Prescriptions

III.                  Ethical and Professional Behavior in a Clinical Setting

A.                   Deportment of a professional in a clinical setting

B.                   Patient confidentiality

C.                  Responsibilities for peer behavior

D.                  Working within organizational structures and learning how to effect change

IV.                  Ethical and Professional Behavior in Generating and Reporting Research Findings

A.                   Scientific Misconduct

B.                   Responsibilities of authorship

C.                  Privileged Information

D.                  Crediting previous workers, collaborators, students

V.             Review of the Honor Code

Week 2 through end of year

I.                     Continue the current One-week Medical Humanities Course:  Normal Human Growth and Development (designed to give students an overview of normal human development from conception to death, focusing on functional changes that mark critical stages of development and aging).  Learning activities include lectures, small group discussions, independent reading, and standardized patient encounters

II.                    Regular small group discussions regarding ethical, professional and personal developmental issues.  These small groups should cross-curricular tracks and include written case scenarios or student generated examples. Topics can include:

Honesty

Intra/Interpersonal Relationships

Physician-Patient Relationship

A.       Cutting corners

A.       Racism/Sexism/Alternative Lifestyles

A.       Doctor/patient communication

B.       Balancing passing tests, competency and personal ethics

B.       How students relate to faculty, house staff, nurses and other ancillary staff (respectful, non-abrasive relations at all levels)

B.       Child/Domestic/Elder violence (how to do an effective universal screening of all new patients)

C.      Falsifying records

C.      Reinforcing healthy behaviors

C.      Risk factors for AIDS -- counseling skills in this area -- How AIDS affects the rural family

D.      Substance abuse

D.      Sexual Orientation

E.       Intervention methods for peers who do not recognize that they have a problem (whether it be academic, substance abuse, or attitudinal)

E.       Unique problems to adolescents (drugs, sex, etc.)

F.       Facilitating the development of intellectual self confidence which allows the student to prioritize the welfare of his/her patient and pursue their own intellectual growth

F.       Obligation of students (as professionals) to people and to society.  This includes working for the good of the community