Office of Academic Affairs
Simon Williams, Ph.D., Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Professor, Medical Curriculum
Bianca Cervantez, Administrative Assistant
Curriculum Division
Michaela Jansen, Ph.D., Assistant Dean for the Pre-Clerkship Curriculum, Professor, Medical Curriculum
Ebtesam Islam, MD, PhD, Associate Dean for Clinical Education, Associate Professor, Internal Medicine
Samuel Campbell, MD, Assistant Dean for the Clinical Science Curriculum, Professor, Surgery
Lara Johnson, MHS, MD, Director for Year 4 Curriculum
Jo Ann Armstrong, Associate Managing Director
Candace Brown, Unit Manager for Year 1 and Year 2 Curriculum
Joangel Sanchez, Coordinator for Year 1 and Year 2 Curriculum
Erin Vaca, Coordinator for Year 1 and Year 2 Elective Curriculum
Amanda Jeter, Coordinator for P3/DOCS1 and P3/DOCS2 Curriculum
Meredith Trevino, Section Manager for Year 3 Curriculum
Kelley Moss, Unit Manager for Year 4 Curriculum
Amarillo Campus
Kristin Stutz, MS, Assistant Regional Academic Dean
Dawn Cox, Unit Manager
Covenant Campus
Shaughn Nunez, MD, Assistant Vice Dean of Medical Education, Associate Professor, Pediatrics
Rachel Forbes, Assistant Vice Dean for Student Affairs
Christina Smith, Associate Managing Director
Erica Arriaga, Program Manager
Kristin Brake, Program Manager
Permian Basin Campus
Martin Ortega, MD, Assistant Dean for Medical Education, Assistant Professor, Family Medicine
JP Garcia, Assistant Academic Dean
Jasmine Knorr, Senior Director
Mina Machuca, Program Manager
Kristin Sumuel, Program Manager
Tina Mims, Administrative Assistant
Assessment and Program Evaluation Division
Vacant, Assistant Dean for Assessment and Program Evaluation
Jo Ann Armstrong, Managing Director
Educational Technology
Jongyeol Kim, MD, Assistant Dean for Educational Technology, Professor, Neurology
Victor Gonzales, Managing Director
Lauren Findley, Programmer/Analyst 3
Gaurav Vinayaka, Programmer/Analyst 3
Location: 2B450
Mail Stop: 8326
Phone: 806-743-5668
Web: https://www.ttuhsc.edu/medicine/academic-affairs/
Doctor of Medicine Program
Institutional Educational Vision, Goals, and Objectives
Vision: Graduates of the TTUHSC-SOM will be compassionate, competent, and knowledgeable health professionals who work diligently to improve the health of the public.
Goal: The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine will graduate physicians who deliver patient-centered care as members of an interdisciplinary team, emphasizing evidence-based practice, quality improvement approaches, and informatics.
Objectives: To accomplish our goal, the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine has identified key objectives for our program that address the knowledge, skills, behaviors, and attitudes needed for students to acquire the degree of Doctor of Medicine. These objectives are designed to ensure that students acquire the six core competencies described by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education: patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and systems-based practice. Each block, clerkship and rotation sets forth specific learning objectives and their outcome measurements based on these key educational objectives. The School of Medicine will continue to review these objectives and revise as needed to ensure that the vision and goals are met.
Upon completion of all required courses and clinical educational experiences the student will be able to:
C. Patient Care: (That is compassionate, appropriate, and effective for the treatment of health problems and the promotion of health)
- Participate in competent and humane medical care of individuals, families and the larger society based on the scientific and clinical principles of health and its promotion, disease and its prevention and management, and psychosocial factors influencing the well-being of patients.
- Assess the clinical status of patients to include obtaining a patient’s history, performing a comprehensive physical examination, and assessing and describing treatment plans to address the medical and emotional needs of the patient.
- Evaluate the clinical status of patients through proficiency in clinical reasoning, including identification of clinical problems using scientific methods, data collection, hypothesis formulation, and the retrieval, management, and appropriate use of biomedical information for decision-making.
K. Medical Knowledge: (Of established and evolving biomedical, clinical, and behavioral sciences and their application to patient care)
- Describe the application of the scientific method for solving problems in the basic and clinical sciences.
- Complete both comprehensive and problem-specific physical examinations appropriate to the concerns, symptoms, and history of the patient.
- Integrate the patient interview and physical examination findings with medical knowledge to identify the clinical problems of patients, formulate differential diagnoses, apply the scientific method and develop plans for diagnostic investigation, treatment, and management.
- Describe the application of laboratory tests and diagnostic procedures and interpret their results.
- Analyze clinical problems and formulate differential diagnoses, diagnostic investigations and clinical treatment and management plans by applying data from the clinical interview and clinical examination.
- Participate in the selection and performance of basic diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.
L. Practice-Based Learning and Improvement: (The investigation and evaluation of patient care practices, appraisal and assimilation of scientific evidence and improvement of patient care practices)
- Apply evidence-based care to patients and use skilled clinical reasoning and the current state of medical art and science.
- Use analytical tools for data collection, quantitative analysis, critical reading and investigation, and apply these data to the clinical care of patients.
- Use self-directed learning and information technology to acquire information from the basic and clinical sciences needed for patient care.
- Demonstrate commitment to life-long learning, including self-directed study of basic and clinical science, critical assessment of the medical literature, and the use of evidence-based medicine.
I. Interpersonal and Communication Skills: (The ability to effectively exchange information and collaborate with patients, their families, and other health professionals)
- Communicate effectively, both verbally and non-verbally, with patients and their families, colleagues, and other health care professionals about clinical assessments and findings, diagnostic testing, therapeutic interventions, prognosis, and disease processes.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the social nature of health care and the need for respect for patients, other health care professionals, and administrative members of the health care systems.
P. Professionalism: (The behaviors of a competent, compassionate, and ethical physician)
- Demonstrate professional integrity and exemplary behavior, including compassion, truthfulness, ethical reasoning, and altruism.
- Demonstrate sensitivity to the diverse biopsychosocial, cultural, and spiritual needs of patients and communicate clearly, respectfully, and compassionately with patients, their families and other health care professionals.
- Participate in patient care that is compassionate and empathic, including pain management, substance abuse, mental health disorders, or terminal illness.
- Demonstrate dedication to the highest ethical standards governing physician-patient relationships, including privacy, confidentiality, and the fiduciary role of the physician and health care systems.
S. System-Based Practice: (The larger context and system of healthcare that includes effective use of resources in the system to provide optimum health care)
- Describe the organization of the health care delivery system and the professional, economic, legal, and ethical expectations of physicians.
- Demonstrate the application of the principles of behavioral and social sciences as applied to family systems and their effect on patient health.
- Employ health care within an interdisciplinary team that is safe, effective, patient-centered,timely, efficient, and equitable.
Undergraduate Medical Education
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine is committed to excellence in the medical education of generalist physicians in preparation for training in any clinical specialty. In the Fall of 2021, the School will launch a new curriculum beginning with the Class of 2025 that emphasizes:
- Continuous integration of basic science and clinical medicine in all four years, with early introduction of clinical experiences starting with the first month of medical school
- Self-directed student learning with varied teaching formats directed to achieving the important competencies of our Vision, Goals, and Objectives listed above, and
- Active management of curricular content both within and across all four years
The School of Medicine has responded to the Association of American Medical Colleges and medical education innovations nation-wide to realign curricula so graduating students meet the best practice standards of patient-centered scientific care. The new curriculum at the School of Medicine emphasizes competency-based education, focusing on the skills and compassion that distinguish excellence in patient care in our profession. Dedicated teaching faculty have responded fully to this unparalleled opportunity to reshape the curriculum so that students are the best-prepared doctors and the faculty members are the best educators. Our curriculum trains students to manage and use the constantly changing best evidence for practice, and to apply this evidence in humane and sensitive manner.
To ensure distinction in medical education, Dean Steven Berk fully supports the offices charged with the SOM educational mission: the Office of Academic Affairs, the Office of Student Affairs, the Office of Curriculum, and the Office of Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development. These offices work closely on this common mission to ensure continual improvement of learning and teaching. In conjunction with the Curriculum and Educational Policy Committee, the faculty, and student body that oversees adherence of the curriculum to national and school standards, the Offices have made student assessment and feedback the centerpiece of curriculum redesign.
The curriculum is continually reviewed and modified to ensure the personal and professional growth of our future physicians. To promote balance between academics and lifestyle in Phase 1 (previously Years 1 and 2), the SOM has limited contact time to 20 or fewer hours per week. Opportunities for interactive learning through small group tutorials, labs, problem-based learning, team-learning, and web-based instruction have also been expanded.
The management of the curriculum has been formally endorsed by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education represents the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Medical Association as the national accreditation body for medical schools. The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine received a full accreditation in March 2017.
Educational Tracks and Dual Degrees at the School of Medicine
Beginning with the class that matriculated in Fall 2010, students have been able to choose between two educational tracks within the School of Medicine, a standard four-year program and a three-year accelerated program called the Family Medicine Accelerated Track (FMAT). The School of Medicine also offers several joint degrees in collaboration with other schools at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center or Texas Tech University and a MD with Research Honors degree.
