About the Program

Mercer's curriculum has been organized to support the mission of training physicians to meet the health care needs of rural and other areas of Georgia. The curriculum insures a superior medical education by developing  students’ abilities to apply basic medical science to patients' problems.

Mercer has utilized a small group, student centered, problem-based learning approach to educate students in the basic science disciplines since its opening in 1982. During the first two years, students learn through a problem-based method in which they not only study the basic sciences requisite to medical  practice, but also develop independent, lifelong learning skills.  From the outset, students begin to organize their knowledge in the manner of the physician.

PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING (PBL) AT MERCER:

Small Group Tutorials
Small group tutorials serve as the center of Mercer's PBL learning.  The fundamentals of all the basic science disciplines are learned in the context of patient problems ("paper cases") .  A major advantage of this approach is that the clinical relevance of the basic science information is continually reinforced.  This not only facilitates the initial learning of the information but also enhances its retention because of the contextual process.

Student-Centered Learning
Students generate learning issues for each clinical problem.  Faculty (tutors) facilitate the small group discussions, but students are expected to determine appropriate areas of emphasis and to lead the discussion.  Self-directed learning is a vital component of the BMP program, but discipline faculty identify learning objectives which help guide students' study.  Faculty encourage student inquiry and maintain an open-door policy as information providers.

There is significant student-to-student and student-to-faculty interaction.  This active approach to learning assists our students in becoming independent learners prepared for the 21st century, in which medical knowledge will change more rapidly than ever before.

Fully Integrated Basic Sciences Curriculum
While many medical schools teach the sciences basic to medicine in distinctly separate units, such as anatomy, microbiology, and physiology, Mercer was the first medical school to completely integrate all the basic sciences into one problem-based learning continuum.

Reciprocal Student-Faculty Evaluation
Mercer student progress is evaluated by both internal and external measures.  Evaluation in the first two years is satisfactory/unsatisfactory and is based on the specific objectives of each program.  Throughout the BMP Program, students are given both formative and summative evaluations.  Reciprocally, students provide detailed evaluations of tutors and the program phases.

Distinctive Clinical Experiences
Mercer students begin clinical experiences within the first few weeks of medical school.  Interviewing techniques and physical examination skills, which students learn through encounters with simulated patients, are strengthened through clinical experiences in the offices of primary care physicians throughout the first two years of training.  Also, students are matched within Georgia communities which they visit throughout medical school to learn about personal care, disease prevention, and health promotion. These clinical and community-oriented educational programs reinforce and bring to life the paper cases which are used to learn the basic sciences within the BMP program.

BIOMEDICAL PROBLEMS (BMP) PROGRAM AT MERCER

Tutorial
 During the first two years, students meet three times each week in small groups of seven or eight with a faculty tutor to discuss the basic mechanisms and interactions involved in clinical cases, the Biomedical Problems.  Students initially analyze each case for learning issues pertinent to a complete explanation of the case. During this process, they define and refine areas for further study. Each member of the group is responsible for accomplishing its objectives and coming to the next meeting prepared to take part in a comprehensive discussion of the case. A few or a dozen or more cases are covered in each phase of the program.

Students are expected to study independently the basic science disciplines relevant to each case; specifically, Anatomy/Embryology, Behavioral Sciences, Biochemistry/Nutrition, Genetics, Immunology, Microbiology, Neuroscience, Pathology, Pharmacology, and/or Physiology. To ensure that students are aware of what the faculty expect them to study, each phase has a Study Guide in which each discipline provides a set of learning objectives and recommended references. Students are not limited to these references and are encouraged to utilize other textbooks, computerized resources, and Internet materials).

Curriculum Phases
The curriculum of the BMP Program consists of 12 phases of 5, 6, or 7 weeks’ duration.  The early phases are designed to introduce the students to the PBL process. These early phases cover material of a general nature which will serve as a foundation for the basic science material encountered in the subsequent phases, which focus on the major organ systems of the body:

YEAR I:

• Cellular Basis of Medicine
• Developmental and Genetic Basis of Medicine
• Host Defense
• Hematology
• Neurology
• Musculoskeletal

YEAR II:

• Brain & Behavior
• Cardiology
• Pulmonology
• Gastrointestinal
• Renal
• Endocrinology