Curriculum for the 21st Century
The implementation of an innovative new curriculum for the medical degree program at the NYU School of Medicine provides an education that integrates formal "classroom" knowledge with clinical experience and thereby prepares students for all career options in medicine. Curriculum for the 21st Century, or C21, provides students with a patient-centered and disease-focused medical education. The curriculum has also been structured to provide students with flexibility in their educational experience. Students work autonomously and as part of a team as they develop the communication and cultural competency skills they will need to practice medicine in the 21st Century.
C21 is a competency-based curriculum. As such, Foundational Knowledge, Integrated Clinical Skills, Professional Development and Scholarship and Research are built upon throughout our curriculum.
- The curriculum is divided into four thoughtfully laid out curriculum stages. Here the requirements for graduation are also explained.
- Pillars are disease-based topics of medical importance that are woven throughout the curriculum. Pillars integrate teaching of basic and clinical science. Pillars layer knowledge onto core concepts, providing a scaffold for longitudinal learning.
- Practice of Medicine allows students to interact with patients early in their medical education.
- Selectives, Sub-Internships, and Concentrations allow for an individualized, flexible curriculum.
- The twelve-week concentration allows students to develop a deeper understanding of a field of medicine and science.
- Dual Degrees are offered in collaboration with other NYU degree-granting programs in a four to five year time frame (e.g. MD/MPA in Health Policy and Management, MD/MPH in Global Public Health, MD/MA in Bioethics, MD/MS in Clinical Investigation).
- MD/PhD students begin laboratory training six months earlier.
- The Honors Program allows students to pursue their research interests in conjunction with their medical studies.
- NYU School of Medicine is at the forefront of curricular innovations.