HEALS Curriculum

A New Curriculum for a New Age

Healer | Educator | Advocate | Leader | Scholar 

The HEALS Curriculum is a dynamic educational program designed to train the next generation of physicians.  

The David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM) at UCLA launched a new curriculum designed to evolve along with changes in science and medicine.

Our Redesign Process View the Full HEALS Curriculum Schematic (PNG)

Structural Racism and Health Equity

Diversity isn't a buzzword. It’s a requirement to treat our communities with clinical excellence. Our community is made up of talented leaders who care deeply and work to impact the world for good. We have a collective commitment to combat structural racism. That commitment spans healthcare, education, and our society at large.

Community and Equity

Discovery

DGSOM Discovery is a required component of the medical school curriculum to provide third-year medical students with a nearly year-long period of protected time for a deep and substantive creative and scholarly experience in an area of their interest. The program encourages the acquisition of attitudes and skills for self-directed, lifelong learning and scholarship.

Year Three Curriculum

Interprofessional Education

Meaningful partnerships with teachers, learners, and experts across a range of disciplines and functional areas simulate the optimal collaborative-care environment students will engage in throughout their medical careers.

Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS)

Medical students develop skills, expertise, and confidence using an invaluable diagnostic tool that improves patient outcomes and precision of care.

POCUS Education

Ethics and Humanities

A robust focus on ethics and humanities in the medical school curriculum helps students develop into physicians who practice patient-centered, just, and humanistic medicine. Through an exploration of real case analyses, historical and current events, philosophical arguments, literature, visual arts, performing arts, and creative and reflective writing, students gain skills in critical thinking, ethical communication, and professional development. In this curriculum, students not only examine the moral foundations of medicine, their obligations to patients and society, and the human experiences of health and illness, but also cultivate their own moral identity as physicians, taking responsibility for caring equitably and compassionately for all patients. 

Integrative Medicine

This clinical approach to care incorporates both conventional and complementary therapies in a coordinated way to prioritize a patient's optimal health and well-being. Integrative medicine supports whole-person health by expanding our definition of what contributes to health to include social, environmental, and behavioral factors. Understanding and awareness of complementary and integrative health (CIH) techniques is essential for the next generation of physicians as patients are increasingly using these modalities. Students will learn about the benefits and impact of evidenced-based CIH modalities such as acupuncture, yoga, tai chi, and mindfulness from interprofessional experts. The integrative medicine curriculum will explore the impact of CIH to improve equitable and culturally-humble care. Students will gain valuable clinical experience in CIH and Whole-Health with rotations within the UCLA Integrative Medicine Collaborative and the VA-Greater Los Angeles. 

Integrative Medicine