Year 2 Competencies

The second year of the MD Program curriculum at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison builds on the first year with a new focus on disease processes, the science of medical intervention (including the nature of healing and pharmacologic principles) and clinical thinking.

The students learn pathophysiology in the context of the whole person and the multifactorial nature of health and disease. The work integrates past and concurrent learning, equipping students with an adequate knowledge base and professional skills for the transition into the clinical years and Step 1 of the USMLE.

At the completion of Year 2, the competent medical student will be able to:

1. Medical Knowledge

• Apply knowledge in basic and clinical sciences, including core concepts of mechanisms of disease, therapeutics and clinical intervention in the disease process
• Identify clinical and lab manifestations of disease
• Describe the difference between disease and illness

2. Problem Solving and Clinical Skills (Patient Care)

• Perform comprehensive and focused physical exams using appropriate techniques
• Integrate clinical findings and clinical reasoning to develop an assessment and differential diagnosis
• Incorporate research evidence into clinical decision making regarding diagnosis, therapy, and management plans

3. Lifelong Learning (Practice-Based Learning and Improvement)

• Identify the evolving appropriate resources and technologies that can supplement education and help manage information
• Demonstrate increased initiative and independence as learners
• Reflect on one's own learning experiences, becoming adept at ongoing self assessment that encourages one to learn more

4. Systems-Based Practice

• Demonstrate a clinical perspective that recognizes the impact of systems of care on the health of the patient and how to use resources to provide optimal care

5. Professionalism

• Demonstrate respect for and interest in the patient
• Exhibit respect for the doctor-patient relationship and self-respect by identifying and addressing personal issues that affect one's ability to fulfill the professional responsibilities of being a doctor

6. Interpersonal and Communication Skills

• Demonstrate effective information exchanges and interactions with patients and other students and health professionals
• Recognize some of the complexities and subtleties in doctor-patient communication, including how patients vary in their communication styles and preferences
• Share information through oral presentations and written and/or electronic communications