MCWfusion Curriculum Doctoring Threads
The seven doctoring threads create opportunities for students to obtain the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to be successful clinicians and are incorporated into all three phases of the curriculum.
Thread content is deliberately integrated across all courses and clinical experiences allowing for spaced repetition.
Students will receive timely feedback to track progress on the competencies associated with each thread.
Character and Professional Development Thread
- Aims to spark medical students’ curiosity about their personal and professional development.
- Encourages students to actively discover and foster their character strengths.
- Provides opportunities and experiences foundational to their professional identity formation.
Communication Thread
- Trains students to effectively communicate with patients and families by developing relationships with individuals across a broad range of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.
- Trains students how to engage in difficult conversations.
- Provides patient education that facilitates shared decision-making.
Critical Thinking Thread
- Relies upon critical appraisal, where the medical literature is evaluated using principles of epidemiology and biostatistics, and diagnostic reasoning, where probabilistic reasoning and diagnostic schema are used to guide medical decision-making.
- Students learn to understand the principles of evidence-based medicine, speak the language of diagnostic reasoning and possess associated tools to utilize in deliberate practice.
Health Equity Thread
- Trains students to be caring and competent physicians with a focus on both cross-cultural understanding and cultural humility.
- Students will learn why health inequities exist, why they matter and the roles physicians play in mitigating them.
- This thread will also address how to effectively eliminate health disparities and how to advance health equity through coalitions, system improvements and policy advocacy.
Health System Science & Patient Safety Thread
- Teaches students how to successfully navigate the complexities of the health care system and positively impact the quality and safety of their patients' care.
Interprofessional Education and Practice Thread
- Exposes students to key competencies around communication, values/ethics, roles and responsibilities and teams/teamwork.
- Students will participate in interprofessional collaborative practice experiences in the health care setting with an aim toward delivering high quality care with health workers from different professional backgrounds.
Patient Care Skills Thread
- Trains students in the discreet and observable acts of clinical care, which are fundamental for the basic clinical method.
- These skills include taking a history, performing a physical examination, interpreting diagnostic tests, performing procedures, documenting encounters and selecting and monitoring therapeutics.
- Students will engage in deliberate practice of these skills in the clinical learning environment to achieve proficiency.
