Foundation Courses:
Foundation courses comprise approximately 70 percent of the professional curriculum and are required for all students to take. Foundation courses I, III, and IV (VTMED 5100 , VTMED 5300 , VTMED 5400 ), which occur during the first 3 semesters of the program, are multidisciplinary courses that utilize a problem-based learning format. Students work through structured clinical cases in small groups that meet multiple times per week with a faculty tutor. Cases are designed to facilitate the understanding of basic science in the context of clinical medicine, and are complemented by lectures, laboratories, and other organized learning opportunities. Faculty members are available to respond to questions that arise as a result of the case-based exercises. By learning in a clinical context, students are better able to integrate material from the basic and clinical sciences and develop an understanding of the clinical reasoning process from the beginning of the curriculum. The problem-based educational format requires students to be actively engaged in their learning and allows them to develop professional skills in communication, collaboration, and the retrieval, evaluation and application of information.
Note: Courses listed in brackets [ ] are approved courses that are not offered during the current academic year.