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Duke University School of Medicine is located in Durham, North Carolina– a city aptly\u00a0 referred to as the \u201cCity of Medicine.\u201d Established in 1930, Duke University School of Medicine was the first to establish a brain tumor program (1937), a unique Center for Aging (1955), and a Physician\u2019s Assistant Program (1965), and was one of the first two hospitals to conduct human trials of AZT, a drug that improves the quality of life of those with AIDS.
\nOver 2,500 full-time faculty, including two chemistry Nobel Laureates, are employed at Duke University School of Medicine across 40 departments. Thanks to its relatively small MD student body of approximately 500 students, Duke has a remarkable faculty-to-student ratio of 3:1. Duke received $384.6 million dollars in research funding from NIH in 2019.\u00a0<\/span>
\nMedical students have opportunities to train at many different sites, both on and off Duke\u2019s medical campus. Duke\u2019s training sites include Duke University Hospital, Duke Training Hospital, Duke Raleigh Hospital, Durham VA Medical Center, and Duke Outpatient Clinic.\u00a0<\/span>
\nDuke School of Medicine offers an MD program, a Doctor of Physical Therapy program, 5 master\u2019s degrees, and 16 PhD programs, in addition to programs for physicians\u2019 assistants and pathologists\u2019 assistants. Of the ~500 Duke MD students, about 17% enroll in the Medical Science Training Program (MSTP), which leads to a combined MD and PhD, and about 40% total graduate with a second degree of some kind.<\/span>
\nThe Curriculum at The Duke University School of Medicine<\/h3><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\nIn an effort to give students time to pursue their own research interests and\/or complete a second degree, the Duke University School of Medicine condenses the core curriculum into three years instead of the traditional four. Students spend the remaining year pursuing their research interests and completing additional degrees.
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Students spend one year, not two, studying the core sciences. There are two main first-year courses that cover all the necessary science: Human Structure and Function & Body and Disease. In addition to the core science courses, students participate in the Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) program, which trains students to be patient-focused, critical-thinking leaders in healthcare through coursework, team learning activities, clinical skills foundations, and workshops.\u00a0<\/span>
\nStudents take two longitudinal LEAD courses: Cultural Determinants of Health and Healthcare Disparities (CDHD) & Clinical Skills Foundations (CSF). CDHD focuses on sociocultural influences on healthcare and health disparities. CSF provides clinical experiences, first through simulated patient-doctor interactions with standardized patients\u2014people trained to simulate the patient role\u2014in the Clinical Skills Lab, which contains ten simulated clinic rooms and two simulated hospital rooms. CSF1 meets 4 hours\/week and focuses on doctor-patient interactions, with a special focus on performing physicals.\u00a0<\/span>
\nThe second year is made up of clinical rotations. Students begin their second year with a three-week Clinical Skills Intensive that provides a foundation for the upcoming clerkships. Once they begin their clerkships, students continue to meet with their Clinical Skills Course group twice every month for more applied practice.\u00a0<\/span>
\nBelow are the required clerkships for each Duke medical student:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Medicine<\/strong> (8 weeks)<\/span><\/li>\n
- Surgery<\/strong> (8 weeks)<\/span><\/li>\n
- Obstetrics and Gynecology<\/strong> (6 weeks)<\/span><\/li>\n
- Pediatrics<\/strong> (6 weeks)<\/span><\/li>\n
- Family Medicine<\/strong> (4 weeks)<\/span><\/li>\n
- Psychiatry<\/strong> (4 weeks)<\/span><\/li>\n
- Neurology<\/strong> (4 weeks)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In addition to clerkships, students take CSF2 with the same groups as in CSF1. In CSF2 they reflect on their clinical experiences as they relate to ethics, spirituality, delivering bad news, and other topics surrounding doctor-patient relationships. Students also take CDHD2, which dives deeper into health disparities based on students\u2019 clinical experiences.\u00a0<\/span>
\nIn their second year, students also take two 2-week selectives, which are experiences in subspecialties not covered by clerkships.\u00a0<\/span>
\nDuke\u2019s year 3 medical school curriculum is particularly unique. Because of the condensed scientific core in year 1, students have the opportunity to spend 10-12 months in their third year completing a scholarly research project that aligns with their interests or completing a dual degree\u2014even one at another university. They\u2019ll also spend time <\/span>studying for the USMLE Step 1<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>
\nStudents complete their clinical electives in Year 4. These electives are tailored to each student\u2019s goals and interests. In addition to clinical electives, students complete the following three Year 4 requirements:<\/span>
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