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Bruce Koeppen, M.D.

Dean, Academic Affairs and Education

Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Professor of Academic Medicine

Choosing the right medical school is an important and often-times difficult decision. Many factors must be weighed in your decision, not the least of which is the curriculum. The content of medical school curricula varies little across the country, in large part because accreditation standards dictate what must be taught during the four years of medical school. However, the format of delivery of this content and the teaching methods used in the curriculum do vary from school to school. In deciding where you want to go to medical school you need to consider what curriculum format and which teaching methods best fit with your learning style. In this regard I believe the University of Connecticut has much to offer you.

Our curriculum underwent a major revision from 1995 to 1998. Since that time, it has received national recognition for its innovative Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Professor format and teaching methods. In our most recent accreditation of Academic Medicine review, the curriculum was cited as the number one strength of the school. Our curriculum is designed to prepare you for your career in medicine by providing you with a strong foundation in the knowledge, skills and professional attributes you will need to succeed in your chosen specialty or subspecialty. Every year we survey our graduates and the directors of their residency programs to determine how well they have been prepared for their roles as interns and resident physicians. We are gratified each year at the positive self-assessment of our graduates, who feel they were exceptionally well prepared by our curriculum. This positive assessment is shared equally by their program directors, and we often find that our graduates are ranked at the top of their residency class.

This web site describes in some detail the components of the curriculum; several aspects are worthy of highlight. The curriculum is highly integrated. In the basic medical sciences, structure and function of the body and its organ systems are taught together. Separate courses in biochemistry, anatomy, cell biology, and physiology do not exist. We feel this better reflects how the human body functions in both health and disease, and how you must think as a physician when confronted with an individual patient.

There is also close integration of the basic medical sciences with clinical medicine. You will begin seeing patients, as part of the Student Continuity Practice, within several weeks of starting classes. This continuity practice, which extends over the first three years of curriculum, will allow you to apply the knowledge gained in the classroom and rapidly develop your clinical skills. The required clinical rotations in years three and four will then allow you to build on and mature these skills to a high level of sophistication. The curriculum balances lectures with a considerable amount of small group learning activities, such as case conferences and Problem-Based Learning. Early in the curriculum you will learn effective problem solving – problem solving that considers not only the underlying biomedical principles, but includes consideration of social, behavioral, ethical and legal issues. The hospitals and clinic sites through which you will rotate will expose you to a rich and diverse patient population. In these settings you will be involved in health promotion, disease treatment and prevention, and in serving the health needs of the community.

The advancement of knowledge through research is another important aspect of our programs. You will have ample opportunity, if you choose, to participate in a wide range of research activities. These span the spectrum from basic research at the cellular and molecular level, to clinical trials of new treatment modalities, and to epidemiologic, population-based and health outcomes research.

We take seriously our mission of training physicians for the future. To this end, we seek individuals who wish to excel and become physicians who are deeply committed to serving the needs of their patients and their community. We welcome all applicants who aspire to this career of service.