Course Descriptions

In Histology, students study the structure of the cell. They learn the distinguishing morphologic characteristics of the four types of tissue: epithelium, connective tissue, muscle, and nervous tissue. After acquiring this basic knowledge, students then learn how the four tissues combine to form organs. At the conclusion of the course, students are able to identify any organ based upon its microscopic morphology.

Credits: 4

In Gross Anatomy and Embryology, students will study the human body in a regional approach. through lectures, dissection laboratories, and case studies, students will learn to apply anatomical knowledge to clinical practice. Students will study the embryological basis of adult anatomy, as well as the developmental basis of important malformations. This course is taught during the Fall and Winter quarters with a single grade given at the completion of the course.

Credits: 6.5 credits Fall Quarter, 6.5 credits Winter Quarter=13 credits total

The Human Clinical Chemistry and Metabolism course lecture sessions concern clinical chemistry, human metabolism and biochemical abnormalities of simulated patients. Clinical correlations are featured in all lecture sessions and are applied in workshops that involve weekly small group discussions of related cases.

Credits: 4

Changes in our healthcare delivery system are creating a growing demand for health professionals with skills in collaboration and teamwork. The various roles healthcare professionals play on a medical team will be introduced to first-year students via practitioner-patient demonstrations utilizing a surrogate patient. Additional lectures will introduce students to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the concept of biomedical research.

Credits: 1

This course introduces students to the fundamental principles for the effective communication with patients, families, and significant others of the patient. Using material gleaned from the empirical and clinical domains of Behavioral Medicine, the course focuses on patient-centered approaches for promoting, improving, and maintaining dialogue with patients. Effective communication has been shown to be central to patient satisfaction, professional satisfaction, patient adherence to treatment plans, and positive outcomes for the patient.

Credits: 1

This course focuses on the physician-patient relationship and communication in relation to knowledge-base information and skill-base experiences. Specific concepts that are essential in effective communication, such as empathy, rapport building, active listening, and data gathering techniques are discussed. The foundation for this course is the biopsychosocial model of medicine. This model is a comprehensive approach in which all of the major aspects of the patient are explored to enhance clinical practice. The course examines how to effectively manage the many challenges in patient care and provide the most effective treatment for the patient.

Credits: 1

The Practice of Medicine Workshop builds upon and reinforces information presented in the Topics in Medicine lectures with a focus on abnormal findings. The primary goal is to guide students to a higher level of critical thinking. Students will incorporate academic subject matter with a clinical orientation. The class will focus on problem solving and the development of skills necessary for the transition from basic science student to clinical student. This course is taught during the Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters with a single grade given at the completion of the course.

Credits: 1 credit Fall Quarter, 1.5 credits Winter Quarter, 2 credits Spring Quarter=4.5 credits total

This experience provides the medical students with one four-week rotation that enables them to continue the process of developing skills in an ambulatory care setting. The intention is to place the fourth-year medical student in a somewhat more intense ambulatory care setting with a patient population that includes patients with more advanced pathologies. The requirement of heightened diagnostic skill as well as increased ability to deal with more serious and complex medical issues result in further development of the student's ability in history taking and physical diagnosis and the development of more complex differential diagnoses and treatment plans. Students may participate in the community medicine experience, a community-based family medicine–run outreach program that involves care of the homeless, family planning, adolescent medicine, and ambulatory geriatric care. Students may elect to participate in the Rural Preceptorship Program. This program is available to students who may be interested in either establishing a family medicine practice in a rural area or participating in primary health care without access to the technologically advanced services available in large urban medical communities. Students in this program complete a four-week rotation with a faculty member of the Family Medicine Department who is engaged in a private family medicine practice in downstate Illinois, northern Indiana, or Wisconsin. Most of these sites offer housing and/or other support for medical students during the rural preceptorship experience.

Credits: 6

In these rotations, medical students participate in daily teaching rounds and attend all teaching lectures and conferences. The medical students also conduct in-depth studies on assigned cases. The medical students are evaluated, in part, on their ability to collect and analyze data and solve problems. A symptom based lecture series is also offered weekly. On-line teaching material is offered such as clinical cases, instructional physical examination videos as well as lectures from the internal medicine course.

Credits: IMED 1702 - 12 credits; IMED 1802 - 12-18 credits

In this course, there is an introductory unit on basic classification, structure, metabolism and genetics of bacteria, viruses and fungi. The students are then presented information relative to control of microorganisms to include sterilization and disinfection, antibiotics, antifungals and antivirals followed by infectious disease epidemiology. For the remainder of the course, lectures and laboratories use the organ systems approach to examine the etiologic agents of infectious disease. Clinical correlations are featured for each organ system and are applied to the laboratory portion of the course. This course is taught during the Fall and Winter quarters with a single grade given at the completion of the course.

Credits: 10

The first year OMM curriculum is divided into two year-long component courses, a lecture course (OMED 1550) and a workshop course (OMED 1551). While workshop sessions are designed to reinforce material presented in lectures, each course is graded independently. Instruction consists of one hour of lecture plus three hours of workshop each week. The lecture course covers the didactic study of osteopathic principles and theory. The workshop course focuses on each student's ability to identify and develop the practical skills needed to diagnose and treat patients from an osteopathic standpoint. Workshop sessions provide an excellent opportunity for medical students to ask questions and to practice diagnosis and treatment techniques on a variety of body types. Closed circuit television is used to enhance the effectiveness of demonstrations. Instruction begins with an orientation to the osteopathic profession (including history and philosophy of osteopathic medicine) and an examination of the distinctive contribution of the osteopathic profession to the delivery of health care. Normal anatomy and physiology are also emphasized. Early workshop sessions emphasize palpation, identification of anatomic landmarks, evaluation of motion, and evaluation of soft tissues. The course then progresses into the pathophysiology of the spine with a description of the structural-functional disturbances that occur in the spine. The skills of articulation, range of motion procedures, Muscle Energy method, cranial osteopathic method, Counterstrain method, Myofascial Release method, and High Velocity thrust (HVLA) method are taught. Neurobiological mechanisms in manipulative treatment and their clinical manifestations are also presented. At the conclusion of the first year, medical students are expected to have mastered palpation, diagnosis, and simple basic manipulative procedures. Multiple written examinations and practical examinations are administered throughout the academic year to evaluate student competency with the above mentioned skills. These courses are taught during the Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters with a single grade given at the completion of the course.

Credits: OMED 1550 - 1 credit Fall Quarter, 1 credit Winter Quarter, 1 credit Spring Quarter=3 credits total; OMED 1551 - 1.5 credits Fall Quarter, 1.5 credits Winter Quarter, 1.5 credits Spring Quarter=4.5 credits total

This is a core rotation required of all fourth-year students. Each student will spend one four-week rotation in the office of an osteopathic physician who uses an extensive amount of OMT in his or her practice. The didactic component will consist of a one-day comprehensive review of osteopathic principles, diagnosis, and common manipulative techniques held on the first day of the rotation in the OMM skills lab on the Downers Grove campus. On the final day of the rotation, a written examination and practical "Find it, Fix it" examination will be given. The student will gain practical experience in using osteopathic principles and practices in the clinical setting.

Credits: 6

Prerequisites

Satisfactory completion of OMED 1550, 1551, 1650 and 1651 and no schedule conflicts.

These courses are a continuum of the organ system approach to the study of human disease introduced in Pathology 1601. The causes and pathophysiologic mechanisms of disease pertaining to specific organ systems are emphasized along with their anatomic, histologic and physiologic alterations. The implications of these disease processes to both the patient and physician are examined. The relationships between specific organ system diseases and their systemic implications are also emphasized.

Credits: PATH 1602 - 6 credits; PATH 1603 - 5 credits

This course begins with coverage of the general principles of pharmacology; the kinetics of drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination; mechanisms of drug actions; receptor theory and dose response relationships. The remainder of the course includes coverage of the pharmacologic actions and clinical uses of the major classes of drugs acting on the autonomic, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, immune and central nervous systems. Other topics that are covered include the chemotherapy of microbial, parasitic diseases and neoplastic diseases, drugs acting on blood and blood-forming organs, hormones and hormone antagonists, principles of toxicology, vitamins, and drugs causing birth defects. Throughout the instructional program emphasis is placed on problem solving, formulating hypotheses, making therapeutic decisions, and the application of principles of osteopathic philosophy and evidence-based medicine. This course is taught during the Fall, Winter and Spring quarters with a single grade given at the completion of the course.

Credits: 4 credits Fall Quarter, 4 credits Winter Quarter, 2 credits Spring Quarter=10 credits total

This course is a sequel to Physiology 1501 that builds on the physiological foundations developed during the preceding quarter. The initial section of the course presents the function, mechanism of action, regulation and integration of the respiratory, renal and gastrointestinal organ systems that maintain body homeostasis through fluid, electrolyte and nutritional balance. The endocrine and reproductive physiology sections of the course present the function, mechanism of action and feedback regulation of hormonal systems. Small group discussions continue to refine critical thinking and problem-solving skills as the students identify the physiologic and pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying the signs and symptoms described in clinical case studies.

Credits: 5

This module focuses on various types of therapies: individual, couple, family, group, pharmacologic, and electroconvulsive.

Credits: 2

The core clerkships in surgery are intended to expose students to a broad scope of surgical disease, to allow them to develop the critical skills necessary to manage surgical patients, and to broaden their technical expertise with procedural tasks. The entire core experience is twelve weeks with eight weeks in the third year and four weeks in the fourth year. General surgery remains the cornerstone of the core clerkship. It is supplemented by two surgical subspecialty rotations, one in the third year and one in the fourth year. Subspecialty choices include: orthopedics, ENT, ophthalmology, nerosurgery, anesthesiology, trauma surgery, burn surgery, plastics and reconstructive surgery, cardiovascular and vascular surgery, and urological surgery. All clerkships are at CCOM affiliated hospitals and clinical sites. Clerkships are designed around both ambulatory and in-patient settings. The students are expected to scrub and participate in operative procedures as well as in pre-operative and post-operative management. Additionally, students should become proficient in history and physical taking, sterile technique, insertion of foley catheters, suturing, IV access, evaluation of wounds, application of dressings, bandages and splints, and removal of sutures and staples. Throughout the core eight weeks during the third year, students attend a weekly extensive didactic lecture series intended to supplement the clinical experience. Students are also expected to participate in conferences offered by the hospital such as morbidity and mortality, tumor conference, and grand rounds. Successful completion of the clerkship is dependent upon the preceptor evaluation, attendance of all core lectures, and completion of all quizzes. Passage of the final shelf exam is required for successful completion of the clerkship.

Credits: SURG 1702 - 12 credits; SURG 1802 - 6 credits