Medicine

Overview

Key Facts of the Medicine program of Nazarbayev University

The NUSOM curriculum emphasizes both the science and the humanity of medicine throughout the students’ four years of study. The carefully designed curriculum structure features active and participatory learning, problem and team-based approaches, an early introduction to the patient and the community, and the integration of a rigorous foundation in basic and clinical biomedical sciences with the behavioural and social aspects of medicine. The key subject matter is longitudinally integrated throughout the curriculum, building upon a foundation of prior learning while providing a progressive introduction of new content.

The patient focus of the NUSOM curriculum begins on day one of the programs with the Introduction to Being a Physician course. Medical interviewing and physical examination courses follow, along with exercises examining the many facets of physician life – at the patient’s bedside, in the community, and in society as a whole. Throughout the first two years, students develop and apply their new clinical skills at the hospitals and clinics of the University Medical Center (UMC) one afternoon per week. The Basic Science block runs through three-fourths of the first year and provides language and concepts that underlie the scientific basis of medical practice. Organ System block courses integrate physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacology, and introduction to medicine, with concurrent courses in the Patient Care and Patient, Physician, and Society blocks. Weekly discussions, patient interviews, and examination of hospitalized patients reinforce essential clinical skills. The third-year curriculum consists of clinical clerkships designed to optimize the balance between inpatient and out-of-hospital learning opportunities. The fourth year includes an active internship, additional required and elective clerkships, and an integrated life sciences experience that revisits some aspects of basic science after students have several years of clinical experience.