MD Program Objectives

Ross University School of Medicine’s medical education program is guided by a set of objectives or competency areas that our students must demonstrate upon graduation. These learning objectives map to our curriculum and institutional values and align with ACGME core competencies.

RUSM Students

Patient Care

Students must demonstrate the ability to apply knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for competent patient care, and are expected to:

  • Integrates patient and caregiver context, needs, values, preferences, and experiences into patient care.
  • Gathers relevant patient histories from multiple data sources, as necessary.
  • Performs relevant physical examinations using appropriate techniques and tools.
  • Identifies patients in need of urgent or emergent care, seeks assistance, and recommends initial evaluation and management.
  • Creates and prioritizes differential diagnoses.
  • Proposes hypothesis-driven diagnostic testing and interprets results.
  • Formulates therapeutic management plans for commonly encountered clinical conditions.
  • Uses patient-centered language to describe common diagnostic and therapeutic interventions and plans.
  • Demonstrates basic procedural techniques.
  • Incorporates health promotion and disease prevention into patient care plans.
  • Identifies individual and structural factors that impact health and wellness.
  • Assesses a patient's nutritional status and provides actionable health
  • promotion strategies that support both disease prevention and overall wellness.

Medical Knowledge

Applies and integrates foundational knowledge to improve health care for patients and populations

Students are expected to:

  • Demonstrates knowledge of basic, clinical, pathophysiologic, social, and health systems sciences, as well as humanities, needed for clinical practice.
  • Applies foundational knowledge for clinical problem-solving, diagnostic reasoning, and decision making to clinical scenarios.
  • Discerns the accuracy of information and relevance to clinical problems.
  • Demonstrates knowledge of research design, interpretation, and application to clinical questions.
  • Accesses knowledge relevant to clinical problems using appropriate resources,
  • including emerging technologies.
  • Recognizes the key nutritional factors that contribute to the prevention of chronic diseases, while also promoting overall health and well-being.
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Teacher in lab with student
Jeremiah Vick, MD '24

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Interpersonal Skills and Communication

Effectively communicates and interacts with patients, caregivers, and the health care team to contribute to high-quality, patient-centered care. 

Students are expected to: 

 

  • Collaborates with patients, caregivers, and team members to enhance the therapeutic relationship.
  • Collaborates with health care and administrative team members to enhance team and organizational function.
  • Demonstrates active listening.
  • Communicates clearly, accurately, and compassionately in verbal, nonverbal, written, and electronic formats.
  • Demonstrates skills in educating patients, caregivers, peers, and team members.
  • Formulates and shares feedback constructively with others.
  • Uses effective communication and motivational interviewing techniques to support patients in making lasting changes to their dietary and lifestyle behaviors for long-term health promotion.

 

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Systems-based Practice

Applies knowledge of the larger context of health, including its social and structural determinants, and of systems and resources within and outside of health care, to optimize high-quality care for patients, communities, and populations. 

Students are expected to:

 

  • Applies knowledge of social and structural drivers of health.
  • Recognizes mechanisms to reduce disparities and advance health equity in patient care and health care systems.
  • Adapts performance to various health care teams, delivery settings, and systems.
  • Collaborates in transitions and coordination of patient care.
  • Evaluates the risks and benefits of using current and emerging technologies in patient care.
  • Identifies patient safety concerns, systems issues, and opportunities for quality improvement.
  • Describes health policy and the financial context of health care.
  • Applies knowledge of local population and community health needs, disparities, and resources.
  • Creates and implements health promotion interventions that are culturally relevant and accessible to different populations, taking into account lifestyle, beliefs, and environmental factors. 
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Professionalism

Demonstrates integrity, respect, and ethical reasoning, and promotes inclusion of differences in all interactions to improve health care for patients, communities, and populations.

Students are expected to develop skills and habits to be able to meet the following goals:

 

  • Demonstrates respect and compassion for patients, caregivers, families, and team members.
  • Safeguards patient privacy, confidentiality, and autonomy.
  • Uses ethical principles and reasoning to guide behavior.
  • Adapts actions and communication according to the situation.
  • Takes ownership of mistakes and acts to address them.
  • Identifies personal limits of knowledge and skills and seeks help appropriately.
  • Identifies personal biases and strategies to mitigate their effects.
  • Demonstrates humility and a willingness to learn from others with different backgrounds and experiences.
  • Recognizes and addresses personal well-being needs that may impact professional performance.
  • Completes duties and tasks in a thorough, reliable, and timely manner.
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Practice-based Learning and Improvement

 Integrates feedback, evidence, and reflection to adapt behavior, foster improvement, and cultivate lifelong learning.

Students are expected to develop skills and habits to be able to meet the following goals:

 

  • Actively seeks and incorporates feedback and assessment data to improve performance.
  • Identifies opportunities for growth in one’s own performance through informed
  • self-assessment and reflective practice.
  • Develops, implements, and reassesses learning and improvement goals.
  • Locates, critically appraises, and synthesizes information to support evidence informed, patient centered clinical decisions.
  • Demonstrates inquiry and ability to grow and seek new knowledge.
  • Evaluates and applies current evidence-based guidelines for the treatment of nutrition-related conditions and for general health promotion across a wide range of patient demographics.
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