Mission of our Medical School

The primary mission of the School of Medicine (SOM) of the Caribbean Medical University (CMU) is to promote prevention, understanding, and treatment of diseases by providing excellence in teaching medicine according to the Patient-oriented Active Learning of Medicine (PALM) Curriculum, as well as community service, basic and clinical research, and clinical practice.

Ryan Jackson, MD
Dean of the School of Medicine

METHODS FOR ACCOMPLISHING THIS MISSION

• Institute Patient-oriented Active Learning of Medicine (PALM) into the curriculum
• Inclusion of case studies into early curricular lectures
• Patient contact beginning in the first year, patient simulations, clinical skills practice, and exposure to physical diagnosis and patient interviewing during year I.
• Call upon regular U. S. faculty known to administration from almost 25 years in American academic medicine.
• Identifying human material resources for learning.
• Choosing and implementing appropriate learning strategies.
• Evaluating learning outcomes.

THE SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF MEDICINE

• Apply scientific principles and a multidisciplinary body of scientific knowledge to the diagnosis, management, and prevention of clinical problems;
• Understand the variation in the expression of health and disease through critical evaluation of biomedical research;

CLINICAL COMPETENCE

• Obtain a sufficient level of medical knowledge to understand the basic facts, concepts, and principles essential to competent medical practice;
• Exhibit the highest level of effective and efficient performance in data gathering, organization, interpretation and clinical decision making in the prevention, diagnosis, and management of disease;

THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF MEDICINE

• Understand and respond to factors that influence the social, behavioral, and economical factors in health, disease and medical care;

COMMUNICATION

• Demonstrate effective and compassionate interpersonal communication skill toward patients and families necessary to form and sustain effective medical care;
• Present information and ideas in an organized and clear manner to educate or inform patients, families, colleagues and community;

PROFESSIONALISM

• Display the personal attributes of compassion, honesty and integrity in relationship with patients, families, and the medical community;
• Adhere to the highest ethical standards of judgment and conduct as it applies to the health care milieu;
• Demonstrate a critical self-appraisal in his/her knowledge and practice of medicine, as well as received and give constructive appraisal to/from patients, families, colleagues and other healthcare professionals;

LIFELONG LEARNING

• Understand the limits of personal knowledge and experience and will demonstrate the intellectual curiosity to actively pursue the acquisition of new knowledge and skills necessary to refine and improve his/her medical practice or to contribute to the scientific body of medical knowledge;.