Highlights of the WrightCurriculum
- From the first day of medical school, students learn about the Dayton community and social determinants of health that impact the health of individuals and the community. They become engaged with local community resources and agencies to better understand the barriers to health care and the health care delivery system.
- Advanced Doctoring prepares seniors to step right into residency positions with the needed confidence to care for patients as part of an interprofessional team.
- All three phases integrate biomedical science with clinical practice.
- All three phases emphasize the enduring importance of the physician’s professional formation.
- Students receive frequent and regular feedback on their mastery of course and clerkship material and professional growth.
- A required scholarly project provides opportunities to explore important questions about science, public health, patient safety, ethics or the humanities and medicine.
Peer Instruction (PI)
a very learner-centered strategy developed by Eric Mazur at Harvard for physics education. Classroom time devoted to solving problems that are presented as questions about specific case vignettes and/or diagnostics or therapeutic interventions, and out-of-class time for mastering core content. Students use audience response devices to answer faculty generated questions, first as individuals, then again coming together after consulting with a nearby peer. Faculty-led teaching moments clarify student misconceptions that are illustrated through the PI process.
Team-Based Learning (TBL)
TBL requires the student to come to class prepared to solve problems with a team of peers – basic content is mastered outside of class, and classroom time is devoted to using content to solve clinical case-based problems. Students participate in an individual readiness assessment test (IRAT), followed by the same questions done with their group in a group readiness assessment test (GRAT). Facilitators clarify student misconceptions, then lead an application exercise to extend their clinical thinking.
WrightQ
our version of problem-based learning. The “Q” in WrightQ is all about learning how to ask the right questions – ones that probe and lead to the understanding of the principles of pathophysiology underlying illness and disease and making informed, evidence-based decisions, including developing a differential diagnosis. Asking the right questions and curiosity are the two keys to self-directed and life-long learning. Working in small groups with a faculty facilitator, students investigate a clinical case, determine what information is needed to understand what is going on, then proceed independently to learn that information in order to come back, and with the group, share, explain and decide on the best possible diagnoses and best therapeutic approach for the patient.
Multiple Choice Question Examinations (MCQs)
Students complete MCQ exams every 2-4 weeks in the Foundations phase. Similar to a TBL, students first complete a multiple choice question exam individually, then with a small group to discuss and answer the same questions, learning from each other.
Observed Structured Clinical Encounters (OSCEs) and Simulated Patient Experiences (SPEs)
students complete several OSCEs and SPEs across the curriculum. Students learn the basics of interviewing and physical examinations and practice using simulated patients in OSCEs and SPEs prior to their clinical rotations. During the Doctoring phase, students use feedback from OSCEs and SPEs to increase their clinical skills.
Clinical Evaluations
faculty preceptors and residents use clinical evaluations to provide feedback to students on clinical clerkships and electives. Students receive formal mid-clerkship feedback, based on clinical evaluations and didactic work, on every clerkship to monitor their progression through the clerkships and curriculum.