Preclinical Sciences

Program overview

AUACOM prides itself in offering a holistic approach to medical education that:
1. provides basic sciences knowledge
2. develops clinical skills essential for competence
3. guides learners toward an understanding of the complex environments from which patients come and the health system that patients enter when they seek medical care, both of which impact their health and health outcomes.
Hence, our curriculum rests on the three major pillars of clinical medicine: basic sciences, clinical sciences, and health systems science.
The strategic design of the preclinical sciences curriculum places a distinctive emphasis on critical thinking and integrating clinical reasoning into basic sciences and the development of clinical skills. Global health issues that most physicians will face are thoughtfully weaved throughout the course work. This AUACOM approach allows students to bridge the gap between theory and real-world application very early in their medical education.

Benefits

AUACOM’s preclinical sciences curriculum offers several distinctive benefits. Upon matriculation, learners explore and engage in using tools needed for a successful medical education.
• It uses both a subject discipline and an organ system approach for the study of the science of medicine in clinical contexts.
• Early training in clinical skills provides opportunities for our learners to interact with real patients and their pathologies.
• High-fidelity simulation approaches foster the honing of patient care, clinical reasoning, and other skills.
• There is guided exploration of the big picture—the larger context of the factors affecting health and the roles of our future physicians.
• Critical emphasis on research promotes learners’ skills in producing and evaluating peer-reviewed scientific work.
• It prioritizes active learning to foster a learning environment conducive to enhanced collaboration, understanding, and retention of vital medical concepts.
These benefits make it easier for students to transition to the clinical phase of their medical education, where they work directly with patients, physicians, and allied health professionals. Overall, our graduates develop skills that are crucial for life-long learning.

Active Learning in Groups

From the first academic period, AUACOM places students into small, consistent working groups for team-based learning, anatomy and ultrasound labs, and clinical skills learning. Each setting is equipped with the digital tools, and simulated or real patients to help learners apply medical knowledge and develop their critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills. Effective communication and professionalism are cornerstones of all activities. By having a close-knit group of classmates and facilitators, students keep each other accountable, receiving and lending support in pursuit of a medical education of the highest standard. While active learning is a key feature of the AUACOM curriculum, the setting provides resources that allow adjustments to suit a student’s individual learning preferences.

Curriculum Details

In the first year, students focus on the fundamentals of anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, cell biology, microbiology, immunology, pathology, pharmacology, and epidemiology & biostatistics. These fundamentals are then integrated into organ system course units, with behavioral science and advanced epidemiology & biostatistics featured during this phase of learning. In parallel, longitudinal threads in health systems science and global health are interwoven. Learning and honing of clinical skills—cognitive, affective, and psychomotor—are featured throughout the preclinical sciences.
Students need to complete 90 credits from Year 1 and Year 2. All Year 1 and Year 2 course units are graded on the following system: Honors (H), High Pass (HP), Pass (P), and Fail (F).

Global Health Track

Another distinctive feature of the AUACOM medical program is the opportunity to earn a certificate in Global Health. In addition to the global health themes covered in the curriculum that all learners experience, interested students can opt for the Global Health Track. The innovative curriculum features electives that include community health, climate change, culinary health, leadership & advocacy, and research. The AUACOM Global Health Track presents its graduates with the tools and insights to serve patients and populations using diverse solutions in their own communities and across the world.
This curriculum is effective as of Fall 2025.