Years 1 and 2: Pre-Clinical

The pre-clerkship curriculum focuses on developing students’ communication and clinical skills while exposing students to a wide array of basic science knowledge and clinical scenarios. Basic science principles are woven together with clinical correlates to prepare students for being part of the care team in their clinical clerkships during their third and fourth years of medical school.

Year 1

• Patient, Doctor & Society (2 weeks)
• Learning Communities 1 (Longitudinal)
• Introduction to Clinical Medicine 1: Fundamentals of Patient-Centered Interviewing and Physical Diagnosis (Longitudinal)
• Fundamentals of Medicine, Block 1 (3 weeks)
• Fundamentals of Medicine, Block 2 (4 weeks)
• Fundamentals of Medicine, Block 3 (3 weeks)
• Fundamentals of Medicine, Block 4 (4 weeks)
• Fundamentals of Medicine, Block 5 (3 weeks)
• Cardiovascular (5 weeks)
• Pulmonary (5 weeks)
• Gastrointestinal (6 weeks)
• Renal (5 weeks)
• Co-Enrolled Electives (optional, elective credit; spring)

Year 2

• Intro to Scholarly Activity (2 weeks)
• Learning Communities 2 (Longitudinal)
• Intro to Clinical Medicine 2: Clinical Skills Integration (Longitudinal)
• Neurosciences (10 weeks)
• Musculoskeletal/Skin (6 weeks)
• Endocrine Systems (3 weeks)
• Reproductive Systems (4 weeks)
• Hematology/Oncology (4 weeks)
• Evidence?Based Medicine (1 week)
• Dedicated study time for Step 1 (at least 6 weeks)
• Special Topics Availability (total of 4 weeks required for graduation)
• Co-Enrolled Electives (optional, elective credit)
• Scholarly Activity (Longitudinal)
• Clinical Skills Assessment (MS2 OSCE) 

Year 3: Clinical Clerkships

Third-year clerkship rotations provide the opportunity for students to apply the basic sciences, improve problem-solving and critical reasoning skills, continue the development of skills in interviewing and examining patients, and engage students in increasing levels of responsibility for patient care in both hospital and ambulatory settings.

• Learning Communities 3 (Longitudinal)
• Internal Medicine clerkship (8 weeks)
• Surgery clerkship (8 weeks)
• OB/GYN clerkship (8 weeks)
• Pediatrics clerkship (8 weeks)
• Neurology clerkship (4 weeks)
• Psychiatry clerkship (4 weeks)
• Family Medicine clerkship (4 weeks)
• Clerkship Core Curriculum (Longitudinal)
• Tuscaloosa Primary Care Track (specific to Tuscaloosa campus)
• Special Topics Availability (total of 4 weeks required for graduation)
• Co-Enrolled Electives (optional, elective credit)
• Scholarly Activity (Longitudinal)
• Clinical Skills Assessment (MS3 OSCEs)

Year 4: Acting Internships & Electives

During their fourth year, students take three, four-week required acting internships, as well as their electives. Students will also take the USMLE Step 2 Clinical Knowledge and Clinical Skills examinations. Fourth-year students submit their Scholarly Activity projects in the spring prior to graduation. Our students also prepare and interview for residency positions during their fourth year.

• Learning Communities 4 (Longitudinal)
• Medicine/Pediatrics Acting Internship (4 weeks)
• Ambulatory Acting Internship (4 weeks)
• Surgery/Critical Care/OB-GYN Acting Internship (4 weeks)
• Tuscaloosa Primary Care Track (Tuscaloosa campus: Inpatient AI, Acute Care AI, Community Medicine AI; 12 weeks total)
• Special Topics Availability (total of 4 weeks required for graduation)
• Co-Enrolled Electives (optional, elective credit)
• Scholarly Activity (Longitudinal)
• Preparation for Residency (2 weeks)
• Electives (22 weeks)