Curriculum
At the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (UPSOM), students in the MD curriculum participate in a learner-centered, active, integrated, competency-based medical education supported by faculty, staff, and other students who genuinely care about everyone’s success. In the foundational science segment, students primarily utilize small group, case-based learning experiences with longitudinal educators and clinical skills preceptors who they work with for months, with content integrated both horizontally and vertically, frequent low-stakes assessments, and “flex weeks” to allow for enrichment.
Our clinical learning experiences utilize cutting edge teaching sites at our clinical affiliates, particularly UPMC, with an early entrance to clerkships and hundreds of elective opportunities. Every student completes a longitudinal research project and a community engagement experience, and key threads (social medicine, leadership, clinical reasoning, interprofessional education) help prepare our students to practice the medicine of the future today.
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Mission of the MD Curriculum At the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, we want to develop physician leaders and agents of change. Recognizing that our students are a diverse group with multiple talents and backgrounds, we commit to helping them flourish in varied careers in interprofessional teams. We foresee leaders in science, education, clinical care and administration. We expect to see our students improve patients’ health and quality of life and promote the health of communities. They will develop scientific breakthroughs, teach future physicians, make health care more equitable and accessible for patients, and eliminate health disparities. To that end, we will create active, self-directed and lifelong learners with excellent foundations in health sciences and clinical medicine. |
Three Rivers Curriculum (Class of 2027 & 2028)
This new curriculum consists of an integrated case-based 15-month period focused initially on basic science fundamentals, then transitioning to a series of organ systems-based periods.
Coordinated with these structural changes in the preclerkship curriculum is the development of innovative programs including the Primary Care Accelerated Track (PCAT) and the Community Alliance Program (CAP) as well as broader implementation of established programs like the Longitudinal Alliance Program (LAP). Key content threads will run through the entire curriculum, including Social Medicine, Leadership, Interprofessional Education, and Clinical Reasoning.
Legacy Curriculum (Class of 2025 & 2026)
The legacy UPSOM curriculum was implemented in 2004 and features active, participatory learning, a problem-based approach, an early introduction to the patient and the community, and the integration of a rigorous foundation in basic and clinical biomedical sciences with the social and behavioral aspects of medicine.
Longitudinal Research Project (LRP)
Longitudinal Research Projects expose students to the mechanics of scientific investigation; teach them how to develop a hypothesis and how to collect, analyze, and interpret data to support it; encourage them to pursue research opportunities; and help them understand the structure of thought underlying the practice of medicine.
Certificate Programs
The Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) and Community Service Certificate are the two primary certificates offered through OMED.
Dual Degree and Research Training Programs
MD/MBA Degree Program (application will open Fall 2025)
Many future physicians are interested in business—entrepreneurship, how to lead, how to start organizations, how health care financing works, and more. This joint degree program between UPSOM and the Katz School of Business that allows students to earn both an MD and an MBA degree in five year. Students will complete 33 credits at Katz, with 12 shared credits provided by UPSOM, that would count for both MBA and MD degrees.