Divisions

Medical Humanities

The Division of Medical Humanities of Drexel University College of Medicine provides an interdisciplinary resource for the study of ethics and humanities in medicine. The division offers a variety of courses, seminars and activities that are open to all students, health care professionals, and scientists to prepare them for issues that they will confront. Humanities Division activities can be accessed at http://webcampus.drexelmed.edu/medhumanities.

IFM Bioethics Curriculum

Bioethics is a required course for second-year students. The goal of the IFM bioethics curriculum is to introduce students to conceptual analysis in clinical ethics and to provide students with general knowledge about major contemporary bioethical issues. Students should be able to recognize, analyze, and justify a course of action when faced with an ethical problem in the clinical setting.

The course includes lectures, small group discussions, computer-based learning and an exam. Bioethics lectures are usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2:00. On Tuesdays, lectures are often followed by small group discussions led by a physician-facilitator. Four Computer Based Learning (CBL) modules are assigned. To access the CBL modules, go to MedEthEx Online at http://webcampus.drexelmed.edu/medethex.

Bioethics in PIL

The Program for Integrated Learning (PIL) provides an alternative to a lecture-based curriculum for first- and second-year students. The center of this curriculum is the small group in which students study clinical cases. Guided by a faculty facilitator, students learn in an integrated, interactive format. The small group experience is enhanced by structured labs and resource sessions presented by faculty, such as those in Bioethics. The two-year, longitudinal curriculum uses resource sessions and computer-based learning to provide a comprehensive program in medical ethics.

Humanities Scholar Program

The Humanities Scholars Program enables students to develop special expertise in the medical humanities. Candidates design a four-year, individualized course of study in consultation with division faculty. Requirements include successful completion of three elective courses, attendance at five Humanities Grand Rounds, participation in the division’s ongoing activities, and a final project.

Medical Informatics

The Division of Medical Informatics supports the educational effort of the Department in a variety of ways. Since 1995 the Division has developed custom applications for the departmental third year clerkship in Family Medicine. The first of these, CyberDoc (TM), gained national prominence as the first online decision support and communications module specifically designed for medical school rotations in the ambulatory setting.

The Division also provides for elective experiences in Medical Informatics for fourth-year medical students. More information on the elective experience can be obtained at http://webcampus.drexelmed.edu/clinicaleducation/SeniorElectives/.

Statistics and Epidemiology

This division takes primary responsibility for the teaching of statistical methods and medical research design in the medical school curriculum. In particular, the Principles of Medical Research course in the first year of the traditional curricular track is run out of the department. Unit members also take responsibility for coordinating the statistics and epidemiology material in the school's problem-based learning track, known as the Program for Integrated Learning, or PIL.

Other educational activities have been associated with the division in recent years. For example, an FCPM faculty member teaches the statistics class in the Biomedical Graduate Program, which includes students in the Medical Laboratory Animal Science program. That same faculty member teaches in the annual Foundations of Medical Research course, offered to residents and fellows, and offers basic research and statistics classes to fellows and residents in several departments.

In addition to education, the unit provides statistical consulting to medical school researchers. A number of basic scientists and clinical researchers, at Queen Lane and Hahnemann, as well as researchers at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, have used the department’s services and continue to do so. For further information on this service, contact Dr. Ed Gracely.