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Get to know the curriculum

Medical students at IU School of Medicine progress through a statewide medical education curriculum that includes training in the basic sciences as well as clinical training in tertiary care centers, community hospitals, ambulatory care settings, student-outreach clinics and physician offices.

The MD curriculum is divided into three phases with transitions courses incorporated at each stage to give students the cultural capital they need to succeed at every level of medical school.

students work together in the classroom

Phase 1

The first phase of training focuses on developing foundational science knowledge and its integration with clinical skills.
Learn More Phase 1
medical students learn to give a basic physical exam in the clinic with a volunteer patient

Phase 2

The second phase of MD training is dedicated to developing clinical skills through broad clinical clerkships.
Learn More Phase 2
a student and faculty member speak together in the clinic

Phase 3

The third phase of training focuses on advanced clinical learning and individualized career exploration.
Learn More Phase 3

Curriculum Resources

Course Management Teams

Each Phase 1 course is administered by a Course Management Team (CMT) that consists of a site leader from each campus. One of the site leaders also serves as the statewide course director. Site leaders are the faculty in charge of the course at their campus. Each CMT has a course coordinator who assists with multiple administrative duties, such as establishing and managing the course Canvas site.

The CMT is responsible for identifying course content, determining appropriate instructional methods, construction of assessments and assigning grades. The overall course content is defined by the course level objectives (CLOs). The CLOs are expanded into session-level objectives (SLOs) that define the content covered in a given course session. The CMT regularly reviews and updates the SLOs to ensure course content is current and accurate.