Our Curriculum, Redesigned
New content, new teaching approaches, and enhanced flexibility for our students’ experience.

 

The medical school curriculum redesign effort started with the very fundamental question, “why?” What does DGSOM seek to uniquely do in training future physicians - to empower students to become physicians committed to excellence and leaders in innovation, research, health, education, advocacy, and humanistic care."

Key Features of Heals Curriculum 

Here are some key features of the new medical school curriculum:

  • Early authentic clinical experience throughout the first year.
  • New & emerging content will be integrated into the curriculum.
  • Much earlier clinical rotations
  • Integrating basic science instruction with clinical practice
  • Dedicated time to enable students to pursue research, dual degree, electives, advocacy, etc.

Heals Curriculum

Medical School Curriculum Redesign Process

Timeline

 

Phase I

Fall 2017 - Summer 2018
Scope and defining our purpose.

Phase III

Summer 2019 - Fall 2019
Created detailed design.

Final Implementation

August 2021

Phase II

Fall 2018 - Winter 2018
Identified design elements.

Phase IV

Winter 2020 - Summer 2021
Begun phased implementation.

Planning Committees

  • Alon, Avidan, MD, MPH (Past Chair, FEC)
  • Clarence Braddock III, MD, MPH (Vice Dean for Education, 2013 - 2023)
  • Steve Cannon, MD (Chair, Department of Physiology)
  • John Colicelli, PhD (Co-Chair, MEC)
  • Neveen El-Farra, MD (Past - Associate Dean, Curricular Affairs)
  • Ashley Feinsinger, PhD (Adjunct Asst Professor UCLA DGSOM & Department of Philosophy)
  • Ed Ha, MD (Assistant Dean, Clerkship Education)
  • Michael Lazarus, MD (Vice Chair/Chair Elect, FEC)
  • Jennifer McCaney, PhD (Lecturer, UCLA Anderson School of Management / Assistant Professor, UCLA DGSOM)
  • Mark Noah, MD (Co-Chair, MEC)
  • Catherine Nameth, PhD (Director of Faculty Development)
  • Gary Schiller, MD (Past Chair, FEC)
  • Maie St. John, MD, PhD (FEC member)
  • Amy Waterman, PhD (Director, Transplant Research and Education Center)

In phase II of the curriculum redesign effort, our goal is to define the “what” of the new curriculum: what elements or features need to be in the new curriculum to enable us to achieve the goals in our “why.”

We formed four workgroups, inviting a wide range of individuals to participate. We’ve included a diverse group of stakeholders including faculty (from both clinical and basic science departments), education staff, residents, and students. All workgroup meetings are led by skilled facilitators involved in the Curriculum Redesign Steering Committee (CRSC), with the goal of generating a wide range of ideas.

Workgroup meetings began in early October 2018, and all workgroups completed six meetings by December 2018. The idea generation has been nothing short of inspiring, with dozens of rich and thoughtful contributions.

Foundational Knowledge: Stephen Cannon (Facilitator), Ed Ha (Co-Facilitator), Ashley Siemer, William Melega, Carolyn Houser, Cherie Lewis, Christian de Virgilio, Denise Sur, Jason Napolitano, Jeremy Flores, Karen Reue, Mark Noah, Rebecca Dudovitz, Regina Liu, Shanika Boyce, Timothy Lane, Yas Sanaiha.

Skillset: Ashley Feinsinger (Facilitator), Neveen El-Farra (Co-Facilitator), Arash Amighi, Dana Schmitz, Deborah Lehman, Edward De Robertis, James Bisley, Jessica O’Connell, Kathryn Melamed, Katrina DeBonis, Kenny Ferenchak, Maie St. John, Michelle Vermillion, Natasha Wheaton, Peter Hsiue.

Mindset: Amy Waterman (Facilitator), Zaldy Tan (Co-facilitator), Alan Chiem, Aleksandra Degtyar, Brandon Susselman, Daphne Calmes, David DiTullio, Elena Stark, Formosa Chen, Janet Pregler, Jenny Yoo, Kathleen Brown, Kenneth Lay, Lauren Nathan, Sheila Naghshineh, Tom Drake, Yue Ming Huang, Natasha Cuk.
Leadership & Engagement: Emily Rose (Facilitator), Clarence Braddock (Co-facilitator), Arlene Brown, Christine Thang, David Okikawa, Gary Schiller, Gerardo Moreno, John Colicelli, Linda Baum, Manan Shah, Ron Edelstein, Sharon Younkin, Sun Yoo, Tiffany Tsang.

In August 2019, we launched Phase III of the redesign process, with Planning Committees for each of the components of the new curriculum.

Boot Camp: Natasha Wheaton (Chair), Bernard Ribalet, Brandon Susselman, Chandra Smart, Dana Schmitz, Emily Rose, Katherine Wesseling Perry, Kenny Ferenchak, Maani Archang, Rashmi Mullur, Robert Goodman, Sajed Dipti, Rachel Brook, Samuel Lewis, Sue Nahm, Misty Richards. 

Foundations of Practice: Denise Sur (Chair), Allan Wu, Antonio Pesseguerio, Ashley Feinsinger, Christopher Yoon, Daniel Karlin, Jaime Jordan, Jessica O'Connell, Jodi Friedman, Magdalena Ptaszny, Manuel Celedon, Michael J. Sopher, Monika Fargoso, Rebecca Dudowitz, Roberta Rey, Sarah Goldgar, Sarah Gustafson, Sheila Naghshineh, Tina Nguyen.

Foundations of Science: Esteban Dell'Angelica (Co-Chair), John Colicelli (Co-Chair), Alan Chiem, Anju Relan, Ari Weinreb, Bernard Ribalet, Christina Harris, David DiTullio, Elena Stark, Grant Howell, Holly Middlekauff, James Bisley, Jane Weinreb, Jennifer Cohenmehr, Marifrances Williams, Omai Garner, Phil Klein, Sarah Gustafson, Steve Cannon, Sulagna Saitta, William Melega, Varina Clark, Sammy Shaker.

Early Authentic Clinical Experience: Tomer Begaz (Chair), Adam Schickedanz, Allison Diamant, Ananya Bhatia-Lin, Aparna Sridhar, Arthur Ohannessian, Brandon Susselman, Daniel Ichwan, Erin Cook, Gerardo Moreno, Gurveen Sandhu, Julia Burrows, Ken Lay, May Nour, Pamela Tsing, Quynh Pham, Ron Edelstein, Satya Patel, Sharon Younkin, Sun Yoo.

Intersession: Jason Napolitano (Chair), Alisse Singer, Ashley Wade, Catia Sternini, Chris De Virgilio, Daniel G. Kahn, David Campbell, Davis Kimaiyo, Elena Stark, Gezelle Miller, James Bisley, Jo Ann Giaconi, Margaret Stuber, Shanika Boyce, Siavash Kurdistani, Sophia Taleghani, Sulagna Saitta, William Melega, Kathy Brown.  

Clerkships: Wendy Simon (Chair), Alexander Pham, Areti Tillou, Arthur Gomez, Daphne Calmes, Deborah Lehman, Ernest Lee, Gary Schiller, Gizelle Miller, Gregory W. Hendey, Kathy Brown, Katrina DeBonis, Lauren Nathan, Mark Noah, Michelle Huang, Neveen El-Farra, Sharon Hame, Yvette Bordelon.

Longitudinal Clinical Experience: Arielle Sommer (Chair), Alan Chiem, Amanda Kosack, Bryan Neal, Damond Ng, Daniel Vigil, Iljie Fitzgerald, Jane Yanagawa, Jodi Friedman, Justin Zhang, Patrick Dowling, Rachel Brook, Renea Fuller, Samantha Mohammad, Satya Patel, Tahlia Spector.

Evaluation and Assessment: Heather Davis (Co-Chair), Mark Grichanik (Co-Chair), Ben Logan, Brandon Ito, Catherine Nameth, Daniel Kahn, Estebes Hernandez, Kate Perkins, Lisa Skinner, Magdalena Ptaszny, Michelle Vermillion, Sue Nahm, Taji Yazdany, Tara Vijauan, Tiffany Tsang, Yue Ming Huang. 

Discovery: Amy Waterman (Chair), Brandon Susselman, David Okikawa, David MacFadyen, David Dawson, Deborah Krakow, Eleazar Eskin, Emilie Marcus, Gerald Lipshutz, Geraldo Moreno, Jennifer McCaney, Jennifer Singer, Jenny Kim, Joann Elmore, Jonathan Wanagat, Justine Lee, Linda Cuesta, Maie St. John, Mary Anne Triest, Moira Inkelas, Mitchell D. Wong, Olujimi A. Ajijola, Pejman Azarmina, Risa Hoffman, Sartajdeep Kahlon, Shamar Jones, Shahrzad Bazargan-Hejazi, Sharon Younkin, Whitney Arnold.

Learner Experience: Committee forming

Electives: Committee forming

Capstone: Committee forming

Foundations of Science Course Co-Leads: John Colicelli & Jason Napolitano

Foundations of Science Course Director: Esteban Dell’Angelica

Early Authentic Clinical Experience Director: Adriana Izquierdo

Foundations of Practice Course Directors: Art Gomez & Peter Quiros

Educators for Excellence: Alan Chiem, Amanda Kosack, Amir Rouhani, Antonio Pessegueiro, Arthur Cho, Arthur Gomez, Bahareh Gordon, Brandon Ito, Faysal Saab, Formosa Chen, Henry Kirolos, Jaime Jordan, James H. Lee, Jason S. Lee, Jodi Friedman, Kathryn Melamed, Manuel Celedon, Michael Ayoub, Monica Sifuentes, Natasha Wheaton, Oladunni Adeyiga, Peter Quiros, Pamela Tsing, Rachel Brook, Sarah Gustafson, Satya Patel, Sherwin Hsu, Tahlia Spector, Tina Nguyen, Tyler Larsen.