A DEEPER DIVE: THE RUSM PRECLINICAL CURRICULUM

• Students begin their academic study on our technologically advanced campus on the island of Barbados, in the West Indies. RUSM's preclinical program, called Medical Sciences,  follows an integrated, organ systems-based teaching model. This means that courses are organized by the systems in the body, like the digestive or respiratory system—an approach that give students the opportunity to examine the physiological, biochemical, and anatomical processes of an organ system all at once. This model, which mirrors how medicine is actually practiced, is in use at many medical schools in the United States.

• RUSM integrates active, hands-on, clinically relevant activities directly into the preclinical curriculum. Though students still absorb knowledge through traditional lecture-based instruction, these hands-on clinical experiences—like simulation, standardized patient cases, and small-group learning, to name a few—train students to think like doctors early in their medical education.

• We understand that every student learns at his or her own pace. As students near completion of Semester 1—depending on their academic progress in that semester—some may qualify to join RUSM's Standard Accelerated Curriculum. Take a look at the detailed breakdown of the two curricular tracks.

• RUSM offers the Academy for Teaching and Learning (ATL), a voluntary resource through which students can leverage advanced adult-learning techniques and progressive technology to enhance their study skills and maximize their potential for medical school success. The ATL is available to assist students who are at risk of academic difficulty, as well as those who are performing well academically but want to take advantage of any resource that could help them do even better.