Education Program Objectives

Introduction

The faculty of the FSU College of Medicine design and implement an educational program to prepare students with the knowledge, skills, behaviors and attitudes to become exemplary physicians who practice patient-centered health care, discover and advance knowledge, and are responsive to community needs, especially through service to elder, rural, minority, and underserved populations, as described in the COM Mission statement. In addition to fulfilling basic graduation requirements of passing all courses and clerkships, passing Step 1, and Step 2-CK of the United States Medical Licensing Examinations, and being in good standing for Professional behavior, students must have demonstrated competency in each of the learning outcomes of nine competency domains.

The Competency Domains

The Curriculum Committee of the FSU COM has adopted medical education program objectives that incorporate adaptations of two national physician competency models. Domains 1-6 correlate with the competency domains of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Domains 7 and 8 were added by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) as part of the Physician Competency Reference Set (PCRS). The PCRS was developed by the AAMC through its initiative to define a taxonomy of competency-based education that not only applies across the continuum of medical education, but is also applicable to different health care professions and different physician specialties. A Mission-based domain (9) was developed and added by the FSU COM faculty to assure that each graduate has demonstrated competency in the knowledge and skills at the heart of the COM vision and Mission.  

Competency Domain 1: Patient Care

1 PATIENT CARE: Provide patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective for the treatment of health problems and the promotion of health
1.1 Perform the medical, diagnostic, and surgical procedures considered essential for the entering resident.
1.2 Gather, document, and effectively present essential and accurate information about patients and their conditions through history-taking, physical examination, and the effective use of the electronic medical record for laboratory data, imaging and other tests.
1.3 Organize and prioritize responsibilities to provide care that is safe, effective, and efficient.
1.4 Interpret and effectively apply the results of basic diagnostic studies, and understand the implications and urgency of results.
1.5 Make informed decisions about diagnostic and therapeutic interventions based on up-to-date scientific evidence and clinical judgment, using shared decision making to incorporate patient information and preferences.
1.6 Develop and carry out patient management plans while working effectively as part of an interprofessional team.

Competency Domain 2: Knowledge For Practice

 2 KNOWLEDGE FOR PRACTICE: Demonstrate knowledge of established and evolving biomedical, clinical, epidemiological and social-behavioral sciences, as well as the application of this knowledge to patient care
2.1 Demonstrate an investigatory and analytic approach to clinical situations.
2.2 Apply established and emerging biomedical scientific principles fundamental to health care for patients and populations.
2.3 Apply established and emerging principles of clinical sciences to diagnostic and therapeutic decision-making, clinical problem-solving, and other aspects of evidence-based health care.
2.4 Apply principles of epidemiological sciences to the identification of health problems, risk factors, treatment strategies, resources, and disease prevention/health promotion efforts for patients and populations.
2.5 Apply principles of social-behavioral sciences to provision of patient care, including assessment of the impact of psychosocial-cultural influences on health, disease, care-seeking, care-compliance, barriers to and attitudes toward care.
2.6 Locate, appraise, and assimilate up-to-date evidence to guide clinical decisions and inform clinical judgment.

Competency Domain 3: Practice-Based Learning and Improvement

3 PRACTICE-BASED LEARNING AND IMPROVEMENT: Demonstrate the ability to investigate and evaluate one's care of patients, to appraise and assimilate scientific evidence, and to continuously improve patient care based on constant self-evaluation and life-long learning
3.1 Continuously self-reflect, seek feedback, and Identify strengths, deficiencies, and personal biases in one's knowledge and expertise to further improve performance.
3.2 Set and pursue personal improvement goals by engaging in learning activities that address one's gaps and limits in knowledge, skills, and attitudes.
3.3 Systematically incorporate feedback and implement changes in order to improve performance and patient care.

Competency Domain 4: Interpersonal Communication Skills

 4 INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS: Demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that result in the effective exchange of information and collaboration with patients, their families, and health professionals
4.1 Communicate effectively with patients, families, and the public, as appropriate, across a broad range of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.
4.2 Communicate effectively with colleagues, other health professionals, and health related agencies.
4.3 Participate in the education of patients, families, students, trainees, peers, and other health professionals.
4.4 Demonstrate sensitivity, honesty, and compassion in interpersonal interactions and in difficult conversations, such as those about death, end-of-life, adverse events, bad news, and disclosure of errors.
4.5 Maintain comprehensive, timely, and legible medical records.

Competency Domain 5: Professionalism

5 PROFESSIONALISM: Demonstrate a commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities and an adherence to ethical principles and respect for codes of conduct
5.1 Demonstrate compassion, integrity, and respect for a diverse patient population and for all people, including but not limited to diversity in sex, gender identity, age, culture, race, religion, disabilities, and sexual orientation.
5.2 Demonstrate respect for patient privacy and autonomy, placing patient needs above self-interest.
5.3 Demonstrate a commitment to ethical principles pertaining to provision or withholding of care, confidentiality, informed consent, and professional boundaries, including compliance with relevant laws, policies, and regulations.
5.4 Demonstrate professional accountability.

Competency Domain 6: Systems-Based Practice

 6 SYSTEMS-BASED PRACTICE: Demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and system of health care, as well as the ability to call effectively on other resources in the system to provide optimal health care
6.1 Work effectively in and across various health care delivery settings and systems to coordinate patient care.
6.2 Incorporate considerations of cost awareness and risk-benefit analysis in patient and/or population-based care.
6.3 Participate in advocacy for quality, optimal and safe patient care systems.
6.4 Participate in identifying system errors and potential systems solutions.

Competency Domain 7: Interprofessional Collaboration

7 INTERPROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION: Demonstrate the ability to engage in an interprofessional team in a manner that optimizes safe, effective patient- and population-centered care
7.1 Communicate and collaborate with other health professionals to establish and maintain a climate of mutual respect, dignity, diversity, ethical integrity, and trust.
7.2 Use one’s own role and the roles of other health professionals in interprofessional teams in order to provide patient- and population-centered care that is safe, timely, efficient, effective, and equitable.

Competency Domain 8: Personal and Professional Development

8 PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Demonstrate the qualities required to sustain lifelong personal and professional growth
8.1 Demonstrate a commitment to one's own physical and emotional health, recognizing its impact on professional conduct, patience, empathy, and quality of patient care.
8.2 Manage balance between personal and professional responsibilities, seeking support when necessary.
8.3 Demonstrate comfort with ambiguity as part of clinical health care and respond by utilizing appropriate resources to deal with uncertainty.

 Competency Domain 9: FSU COM Mission 

9 FSU COM MISSION: Demonstrate knowledge of the structural systems and personal contributors to the social determinants of health and health  equity, especially in elder, rural, minority and underserved populations
9.1 Describe the social determinants of health, and identify how they create opportunities for and barriers to wellness for underserved populations.
9.2 Identify community resources and the ways physicians can partner with them to improve individual and population health.
9.3 Discuss the process and components of community health assessment, and illustrate how it is used to identify health needs of a population and improve population health status.
9.4 Describe the key geriatric principles of care, and discuss the impact of health care systems, community agencies, and social supports on the health and well-being of older adult populations.
9.5 Describe the social, cultural, and systems factors that are associated with the health status of rural populations.
9.6 Identify and evaluate factors contributing to racial and social justice in medicine, including systems of power, privilege, and oppression, and their impacts on health outcomes. Demonstrate knowledge of the ways intersectionality, implicit and explicit bias relate to clinical decisions and delivery of high quality care.