Programs Offered
The T.H. Chan School of Medicine curriculum was redesigned in 2010 to meet the needs of modern learners with the vision of inspiring our future physicians to excel in patient care, innovation, discovery, leadership and service. Our Learner-centered integrated Curriculum (LInC) is designed for continuous review and nimble revision to adapt to the needs of a changing health care field, student population and educational opportunities. Highlights include:
- Patient interactions from the first days
- Organization into Learning Communities fo students and longitudinal faculty mentors
- Balanced interactive large and small group, self-regulated and team-based learning experiences
- Simulation and hands-on experiential learning integrated throughout
- Interprofessional learning with students from our Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing across all years
- Rich opportunities for elective, pathway and service learning
In 2017 we launched the Population-based Urban and Rural Community Health (PURCH) track to help meet the needs of this burgeoning population and professional field.
DEGREE-GRANTING PROGRAMS (descriptions below)
OPTIONAL PATHWAYS (descriptions below) as well as the PURCH track
The T.H. Chan School of Medicine offers three school-sponsored, application-based structured student pathways for students with interest in developing particular skills in global health, serving the underserved and clinical and translational research. These pathways do not provide additional degrees, but do have structured curricula and requirements for successful completion. Notation is made on the transcripts and in the medical school performance evaluation (MSPE) of students who successfully complete all requirements. A track in Population-based Urban and Rural Community Health is also offered and the application is a part of our secondary forms.
Degree Granting
MD Program
The UMass Chan Medical School's MD program pledges to provide students with a comprehensive and personally rewarding medical education. We aim to prepare our graduates to be caring, competent, and productive physicians serving a diversity of patients and communities. Whether a student plans to practice in primary care or pursue subspecialty training, the four-year educational program at UMass Chan Medical School is designed to develop the foundational competencies required of all physicians. Our Learner-centered Integrated Curriculum (LInC) supports our vision that our graduates will excel in patient care, innovation, discovery leadership and service. The LInC is founded on our six core competencies, collaboratively developed by our students and faculty – physician as clinical problem solver, communicator, patient and community advocate, person, professional and scientist. Most students complete the MD degree in four years, though there are opportunities for extension for personal and professional development. Our clinical sites span the commonwealth with students rotating at our major clinical partners, UMass Memorial Medical Center as well as community-based educational partners from Cape Cod to the Berkshires. Ambulatory preceptors are equally diverse and include multispecialty community-based providers, hospital-affiliated clinics, federally qualified health centers and private providers. This diversity of sites for clinical learning supports student learning, professional development and career decision-making.
For more information on program requirements, click here.
MD/PhD Program
The Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) funded MD/PhD program offers exceptional training opportunities for those interested in pursuing careers as physician/scientists. The program combines the curriculum of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine and the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences to provide a structured foundation of diverse topics, with the flexibility necessary to meet the needs of the individual student.
The goal of the MD/PhD program is to provide highly motivated students the opportunities to develop skills and experience in biomedical investigation and the practice of medicine. This is a rigorous and challenging program, and upon successful completion the student is awarded both the PhD in biomedical sciences and the MD. We train physician-scientists who will make significant contributions to health care and who will become the leaders of academic medicine.
In addition to the traditional biomedical sciences research training, our Medical Scientist Training Program offers a clinical/population based PhD degree for students interested in clinical research. The Clinical and Population Health Research Program offers our students an opportunity to become leaders in clinical and translational research by training them in areas including epidemiology, outcomes research, determinants of disease and biostatistics. It also addresses the national need for health research to move from the laboratory to the individual patient and health care systems.
For more information on program requirements, click here.
Track and Optional Pathways
Population-based Urban and Rural Community Health (PURCH) Track
The Population-based Urban and Rural Community Health (PURCH) Track is an innovative, immersive education experience that prepares medical students to practice successfully in the post-healthcare reform world by training them to manage the health of both individuals and populations.
It teaches patient-centered, team-based care that is integrated within the community.
You will learn about population health concepts, and have ample opportunity to apply them in diverse inpatient and outpatient clinical settings with largely underserved urban and rural communities.
Students will participate in courses at both the UMass Chan campus in Worcester and our new UMass Chan-Baystate regional campus in Springfield, MA.
Baystate Health is one of the largest health systems in New England. It has a mission of serving the underserved in both inner city and rural areas of western Massachusetts, providing care for a remarkable diversity of patients and medical conditions.
Baystate has been involved in medical education for more than a century, and is a nationally recognized leader in educational innovation. You will have opportunities to train in a wide range of inpatient and outpatient clinical settings within Baystate’s integrated academic health system - from Baystate Medical Center, a large full-service teaching hospital, to smaller neighborhood primary care and specialty clinics.
Clinical Translational Research Pathway
The Clinical and Translational Pathway (CTRP) is a selective program that provides advanced opportunities for students to further their skills in basic, clinical or translational research in parallel with the traditional medical school curriculum. It is designed for students enrolled in the UMass Chan MD degree-granting program who wish to contribute to the development of evidence-based approaches to improve clinical care, and to translate discoveries in basic science to clinical practice throughout their career. Students accepted into this program complete longitudinal coursework throughout their T.H. Chan School of Medicine enrollment and finalize their experience with a Senior Scholars Project. The CTRP program offers the opportunity for an additional year to complete a master's degree in clinical investigation through the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
For more information on program requirements, click here.
Global Health Pathway
The Global Health Pathway (GHP) is an elective, four-year program that trains and supports medical students to be future leaders in global health. The GHP selects medical students through an application process at the start of their medical school training and provides them with longitudinal curriculum and opportunities to gain experience in clinical, research, public health and cultural experiences with underserved populations in two major categories: those currently living outside of the United States or those that are living inside the United States with recent international origins, such as immigrant or refugee populations.
For more information on program requirements, click here.
Rural Health Scholars Pathway
The goal of this pathway is to foster students' interest in and desire to learn about issues related to practicing in rural and small town communities as well as to help them develop contacts with rural health clinicians and leaders while learning skills useful to rural and small town practice.
To learn more about this pathway, click here.