Texas A&M University (College of Medicine)

The A&M System Health Science Center College of Medicine is dedicated to the education of humane and highly skilled physicians and to the development of knowledge in the biomedical and clinical sciences. To achieve its mission, the College utilizes the varied resources of The Texas A&M University System, Scott & White Memorial Hospital and Clinic, the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, Darnall Army Community Hospital, Driscoll Children’s Hospital and physicians in private practice. In order to improve the quality and efficacy of health and medical care through its programs of medical education and research, the College of Medicine will continue:

* To maintain a small, high-quality medical education program, which graduates physicians prepared to enter graduate study in any medical specialty, including primary care. The medical education program includes a strong emphasis on the humanistic and ethical aspects of medicine.
* To develop programs of research in selected areas of biomedical and clinical science; and to join in collaborative programs with other elements of The Texas A&M University System through which the knowledge and skills of many disciplines can be utilized to improve the health and medical care of specific segments of the population.
* To educate a small number of biomedical scientists to conduct research in areas that will form the foundation for advances in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease.

The success of our students defines who we are as a college. As we implement curricular reform to accommodate class expansion, we are mindful of the importance of continuing to put our students first and maintaining the personalized educational experience that makes us unique. Through curricular reform, we will provide our students with more clinical training options and develop innovative clinical tracks. Our current research strengths continue to expand in the areas of neuroscience, cell biology, cardiovascular/integrative biology, cancer and infectious disease. To further build out signature research programs, we have reorganized our basic science departments into four interdisciplinary departments.

The College of Medicine is explicit about its commitment to excellence in improving the health of Texans, particularly rural and underserved populations, through the integrated education of humane and highly skilled physicians and the devlopment of knowledge in the biomedical and clinical sciences. It is committed to the important role of diversity in the training of future medical professionals. The College believes that diversity, which is not solely limited to race and ethnicity, but also encompasses talents, life skills and special attributes, enhances its ability to provide care to communities across a broad range of racial and ethnic groups and is critical for the amelioration of disparities in health care. This mission is the philosophy by which the College of Medicine guides itself and the admissions process. It is also the foundation on which the Admissions Committee makes important individual admissions decisions and strives to admit students whose goals and attitudes are consistent with the philosophy and mission of the College of Medicine.

Applicants, therefore, must demonstrate better than average ability to master a challenging educational experience. In addition to academic ability, successful applicants must exhibit the personal qualities necessary to interact with others in an effective and personable manner. Pre-medical advisors play an important role in helping the admissions committee assess these attributes and qualities. Prospective applicants are urged to get to know their advisors early in their undergraduate education.

The College of Medicine received 2,746 applications for the 80 places in the 2005 entering class. Six hundred and ninety-six (696) applicants were interviewed. The class is comprised of 91% Texas residents, 49% women, and 13% under-represented minorities. Among the students enrolled, 91% received baccalaureate degrees, 8% had graduate degrees, and 1% had no degrees. The choice of major varied among the students, but 77% chose majors in the sciences, engineering, and health-related professions. Among the non-science degrees, some of the fields of concentration were Advertising, Business, Foreign Language, History, Human Development, Information Systems, Marketing, Music, Political Science, Psychology, and Religion. Thirty-seven colleges and universities throughout the state and nation are represented among the members of the entering class. The class is distinguished by a mean GPA of 3.75 and average MCAT scores of 9.3 per section (or 28 total).

The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center College of Medicine is committed to the important role of diversity in the training of future medical professionals. We believe that diversity enhances our ability to provide care and serve communities across a broad range of racial and ethnic groups and is critical for the amelioration of disparities in health care. Commitment to diversity requires the indentification, recruitment, selection, matriculation and graduation of qualified medical students from different racial, ethnic and/or disadvantaged backgrounds. These efforts, in turn, will increase the number of physicians available to serve the nation's burgeoning minority and underserved populations while raising the general cultural competence of all physicians. Furthermore, we believe that diversity is not solely limited to race and ethnicity, but also encompasses talents, life skills, and special attributes. Our overall goal is for the medical profession to mirror the growing diversity of the American population and to understand the multiple and varied needs of our patients.

Medical students will find a variety of housing options in the Bryan/College Station community. To better accommodate students on campus and off, Texas A&M University's transit system provides students with extensive shuttle service. The University's Off Campus Center strives to meet the needs of 31,000 off- campus students by providing a variety of services and programs. Resources available include help in locating a place to live, arbitration of problems involving landlords or roommates, and advice regarding the basic legal rights of tenants.

There are traditional activities which involve students, faculty and staff. These occur throughout the academic year; are sponsored by student organizations, and planned in consultation with the Office of Student Affairs and Admissions.

The graduate program in the College of Medicine offers doctoral degrees in Biomedical Sciences through the Texas A&M System Health Science Center Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. The recently adopted Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies tract transcends traditional departmental boundaries, offering students the opportunity to do thesis research in any lab in the College of Medicine. Six curricular tracts have been developed: (1) Biochemistry and Structural Biology, (2) Cardiovascular and Integrative Biology, (3) Cell and Molecular Biology, (4) Neurosciences, (5) Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis, and (6) Pharmaceutical Sciences and Therapeutics. Each tract has its own defined curriculum, which builds on broad-based foundations courses taken by all students in the program.

Research training is available in a wide range of areas in many labs in which a student may choose to work. Most faculty members employ multidisciplinary approaches and/or actively collaborate with other local (College of Medicine or adjacent Texas A&M University) or national/international scientists. Students typically do 3-4 laboratory rotations during their first year. Rotations provide students with a chance to explore new research areas, and identify the research topic and environment that best suits their interests. Incoming students are uncommitted: they can sample each and any curricular tract or research lab.

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College of Medicine Medical School Location

College of Medicine Courses

YEAR ONE COURSES :

* Gross Anatomy : Medical Gross Anatomy is a course that deals with the structure of the human body and its related function. This course is heavlity weighted toward laboratory dissection, for it is the most effective method to obtain a three-dimensional understanding of the human body. Lectures are designed to orient, guide and stimulate you toward independent effort.

* Medical Neuroscience : Neural substrates for regulation of somatic and visceral bodily function; mechanisms underlying the integrated action of the human central nervous system; neurologic significance. Prerequisite: Admission to medical curriculum or approval of course coordinator and department head.

* Medical Biochemistry & Genetics : Properties and metabolism of proteins, nutritional biochemistry, nutritional deficiencies, diet and disease. The metabolic basis of inherited disease. Metabolism of lipids, carbohydrates, amino acids, purines and pyrimidines. Properties and metabolism of DNA and RNA. Fundamentals of medical genetics, including diseases resulting from inborn errors of metabolism, chromosomal abnormalities, human gene mapping and applications of recombinant DNA technology to problems of human genetics.

* Structure and function of human organ systems : This course will teach two traditional disciplines, Histology and Physiology, in an integrated fashion. The student will develop knowledge of the structure and functional organization of tissues and organ systems while at the same time achieving a comprehensive understanding of the normal physiology of these systems. This is essential to the student later understanding and appreciating the evaluation and therapeutic approach to disease processes.
The initial portion of the course will focus on basic tissue types found in the body and some specific examples of those tissues. The course will then concentrate on specific organ systems with special emphasis given to the physiology of the many control systems for physiologic parameters such as blood pressure, body fluid composition, etc. The reason for this is that most disease conditions of the body result from abnormal function of one or more of these systems. Further, there will be instructional integration between organ systems since no system acts in isolation.

* Medicine and Human values : Introduction to Human Ethics : Basic issues in medical ethics, focusing on the character of the patient-physician relationship.

* Humanities in Medicine Seminars : A wide variety of social issues in medicine addressed from various humanities perspectives, including literature, history, law, religion, etc.

* Introduction to Leadership in Medicine : This section emphasizes the importance of leadership and deals with professional values. The first half of the section focuses on developing the students as physician leaders and applying the adaptive model of leadership to patients and community. Small group discussions are the major method of education, but the section also includes lectures and panel discussions. The faculty include physician and non-physician teachers for each small group.
The second half of the section consists of six different topics (Selectives), which are of current importance in medicine: Spirituality and Medicine, Domestic Violence, Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, Health Promotion, The Process of Leadership, and Rural Medicine. Each student selects one of the six selectives. Each selective is framed by the question: How does a physician exercise leadership in this area? The topics are taught as seminars; students do independent reading and discuss their readings in class. A group project is the culmination of each Selective.

YEAR TWO COURSES :

* Medical Microbiology & Immunology :Principles of microbe-host interactions at the molecular level. Selected medically important infectious diseases serve as paradigms for understanding how multiple pathogenic mechanisms contribute to disease

* Pathology & Laboratory Medicine : Human diseases, their causes, pathogenesis, lesions and resulting manifestations.

* Medical Pharmacology & Toxicology : Pharmacology as it relates to behavior and the central nervous system.

* Introduction to Clinical Psychiatry : Overview of psychiatric diagnosis in accordance with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; management and treatment of psychiatric disorders.

* Introduction to Reproductive Medicine and Human Sexuality : Principles of normal reproductive medicine; menstrual function, conception, sexual differentiation; fetal and maternal physiology; antepartum patient evaluation; intrapartum and postpartum care.

* Introduction to Pediatrics: Principles of pediatrics; normal physiological and psychosocial development of the newborn through adolescence.

YEAR THREE COURSES :

* Family Medicine : Full-time clerkship experiences in the offices of primary care physicians.

* Obstetrics and gynecology : Clinical obstetrics and gynecology, emphasizing pathologic conditions, with patient evaluation on the inpatient and outpatient services under supervision of the clinical faculty. Participation in seminars, conferences and clinical rounds.

* Pediatrics : Pediatrics under supervision of the faculty through participation in routine and emergency inpatient (ward and nursery) and outpatient pediatric care. The student performs histories and physicals, learns problem-solving techniques, and participates in conferences, seminars and rounds.

* Psychiatry : Clinical psychiatry, with patient evaluation on the inpatient and outpatient services under supervision of the clinical faculty, participation in seminars, conferences, hospital and emergency room consultations, and in psychological and psychometric evaluations.

* Medicine : General outpatient and inpatient internal medicine, with patient work-up and management under supervision of the clinical faculty. Participation in clinical rounds, conferences, seminars and diagnostic evaluations.

* Surgery : Clinical surgery with workup of patients and participation with the clinical faculty in preoperative evaluation, operative procedure and postoperative care. Participation in clinical rounds, conferences, emergency room and formal classroom activity.

* Radiology : Methods of medical imaging; conventional radiology, ultrasound, computerized tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, interventional radiology and nuclear radiology, and application of these methods to specific clinical problems.

YEAR FOUR COURSES :

* Alcohol & Drug Dependence
* Becoming a Clinician IV
* Acting Internship
* USMLE Step 2.
* Electives

Other translation schools in Texas

University of Texas at San Antonio (School of Medicine) FIRST YEAR COURSES : * Biochemistry * Neuroscience * Clinical Integration * Physiology * Gross Anatomy & Embryology * Microbiology * Micro... Address: 7703 Floyd Curl Drive

University of North Texas Health Science Center (College of Osteopathic Medicine) The curriculum at TCOM is presented using an organ systems approach in which basic science topics pertinent to a particular organ system of the body a... Address: 3500 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, Texas

University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (School of Medicine) YEAR 1 COURSES : * Gross Anatomy and Radiology : This course will be the first basic science core presented in the new curriculum. The prime object... Address: 301 University Boulevard