• Gryphon Login
  • MyCourses
  • Alumni
  • UCLA Health
  • Contact Us
Prospective Students

Prospective Students

Prospective Students
  • Admissions
    Procedure & Timelines
    • Admissions Timeline
    • Admissions Procedure
    • Basis of Selection
    • COVID-19 Impacts on Admissions
    • Housing Information
    • Interview Process
    • Prerequisites
    General Information
    • Statement of Diversity
    • Mission Statement
    • Curriculum Resdesign
    • Honor Code
    • FAQs
    • Admissions Brochure
    • Admissions Timeline
    • Admission Procedure
    • Basis of Selection
    • Competencies
    • COVID-19 Impact on Admissions
    • DACA Applicants
    • DGSOM Mission Statement
    • FAQs
    • Honor Code
    • Housing Information
    • Interview Process
    • Statement of Diversity
    • Virtual Events
  • Outreach & Pipeline Programs
    Summer Pre-Health and Postbaccaluareate Programs
    • UCLA SHPEP
    • UCLA PREP
    • UCLA RAP
    Outreach and Recruitment
    • Conferences and Events
    • Stay Connected!
    • Contact Us
    • Conferences & Outreach Events
    • Summer Pre-Health and Postbaccalaureate Programs
    • Contact Us
    • Stay Connected
  • Financial Aid & Scholarships
  • Degrees & Programs
  • Curriculum
  • Student Life
    Why Choose UCLA
    • Research
    • Clinical Work
    • Service Opportunities
    • Global Health Impact
    • Why You'll Love LA
    Campus Life
    • Student Organizations
    • Annual Events
    • Day in the Life
    • Around Campus
    • Photo Galleries
    • Medical and Research News
    • Medical Student Council
    • Geffy Guide
    • Search Campus and Health News
    • Service Opportunities
    • Global Health Impact
    • Why You'll Love LA
    • Photo Galleries
    • Day in the Life
    • Around Campus
    • Medical and Research News
    • Search Campus and Health News
  • How to Apply
  • Gryphon Login
  • MyCourses
  • Alumni
  • UCLA Health
  • Contact Us

Prospective Students

Search Campus and Health News

Search Campus and Health News

Search Campus and Health News

  • Health News
  • A Day in the Life
  • Around Campus
  • Medical and Research News
  • Health News
  • A Day in the Life
  • Around Campus
  • Medical and Research News
  1. Home
  2. Prospective Students
  3. Student Life
  4. Search Campus and Health News

Search Campus and Health News

Share this

Around Campus

Title

Benefits of an Organ-Based Block Curriculum

Around Campus

Date
08/24/2018
Article

Dr. Janet Pregler, MD

Dr. Janet Pregler, MD

The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (DGSOM) uses a block curriculum to help students master a depth of medical knowledge. Director of the Iris Cantor-UCLA Women's Health Center and a former DGSOM curriculum chair, Janet Pregler, MD, explains the benefits of a block curriculum.

A holistic look at biological systems

The DGSOM curriculum groups related or interconnected biological systems in the same block to give students a big-picture look at human health. For example, an integrated organ-based curriculum helps students learn what the ovaries look like, what they do, how they work, and also how they interact with other organs and systems.

"We feel it is helpful to learn the histology and anatomy of each organ and system together, but especially for topics that are conceptually difficult such as biological chemistry and pharmacology. It is even more helpful to learn each as it relates to each organ system," says Dr. Pregler. "In college, you're probably used to learning subject-by-subject, so you might think we organize medical school the same way as a class in biology, a class in pharmacology [or] a class in anatomy," explains Dr. Pregler. "But we [don't] think that is the best way to teach medical students.

In a typical subject-based curriculum, you might learn the anatomy of an ovary in October in anatomy class, look at it under a microscope in December in a histology class, and in June, you might find out how it works in a biology or biochemistry class. Even later, you will learn separately what can go wrong with the ovary and what drugs are given for a diseased ovary."

Integrating basic and clinical science into the curriculum

Working together as curriculum block chairs, usually one practicing physician and one research physician think creativity about all the elements of each organ group and system. The collaborators look beyond what the systems do separately, focusing on how they work together. "This way, we give our students the basic scientific and clinical information they need in a format that brings that information together for specific organ systems," explains Dr. Pregler.

“Thread” chairs work alongside the block chairs to integrate into the curriculum topics or “threads” that apply to every organ and system. Students complete nine curriculum blocks during their first and second years of medical school. The length of each block varies along with the complexity of the covered systems. During year one, students learn how the systems work. During the second year, students explore what happens when something goes wrong in each system. When they’ve completed all the blocks, students have a strong sense of each system and how they relate to each other.

By Naomi Mannino

Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Subscribe to Our Videos on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Connect with Us on LinkedIn Follow us on Pinterest Follow us on Flickr Follow us on Sharecare
Top 10 U.S. Medical Schools
  • Giving
  • Publications
  • Newsroom
  • Weekly Digest
  • Directory
  • Contact Us
  • Diversity
  • Emergency
  • Maps & Directions
  • UC Regents
  • Abuse Free
  • Volunteer
  • Biomed Library
  • Disability Resources
  • UCLA Health
  • Smoke-Free
  • Sitemap
  • Terms of Use
Top 10 U.S. Medical Schools
Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Subscribe to Our Videos on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Connect with Us on LinkedIn Follow us on Pinterest Follow us on Flickr Follow us on Sharecare