University at Buffalo (UB)
This curriculum is for medical students who were admitted to the Jacobs School before 2024. Students starting July 2024 will train under the Well Beyond curriculum.
Grounding you in the sciences fundamental to medicine, our preclinical organ-based curriculum utilizes self-directed learning and trains you to think critically and solve problems individually or as a team — skills you will call on throughout your professional life to make informed decisions for your patients. These skills prepare you for the clinical years where you will see a broad mosaic of human disease. The impact of these diseases, processes and systems on the patient and society are emphasized as you study the entire human condition.
Our first-year curriculum introduces you to the role of medicine in society and concentrates on both the molecular aspects of disease and the human body as a whole. Beginning in the second semester, students advance into the integrated organ-based modules covering the hematologic, gastrointestinal, renal and musculoskeletal systems. Your clinical experience begins within the first two weeks of classes with the Clinical Practice of Medicine 1 where you will learn the art of physical diagnosis and history taking along with direct patient contact over the entire first year.
Our second-year curriculum expands your organ-based knowledge of cardiovascular, respiratory, behavioral and neurosciences, endocrinology and reproductive medicine. Your clinical skills also progress in the Clinical Practice of Medicine 2 course where you begin to master the art of both the history and physical exam while learning the presentations of disease states. The synthesis of all this knowledge is culminated with your USMLE Step 1 examination after a dedicated study period of approximately 7 weeks.
The third year is all about the clerkships — intense experiences in both inpatient and outpatient arenas covering the specialties of Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynecology, in six-week blocks, while Internal Medicine and Surgery occupy 12-week rotations. One-month electives are offered during the medicine and surgery clerkships that allow exposure to areas of interest in the third-year or the ability to fulfill some fourth-year requirements. The importance of ethics in the clinical realm is emphasized during the year-long course in Dilemmas in Clinical Medicine.
Your fourth year provides ample opportunities for exploration and diversity with only two fourth-year requirements: advanced medicine and neurology, with neurology being offered as third-year elective option as well. Flexibility of scheduling allows for opportunities to explore special interests through individualized selections at the Jacobs School and across the nation and world.
The coursebook is in the menu on the left.
First-year courses begin in August and continue through May of the following year. You will participate in a structured curriculum as outlined below. Optional elective courses are also available if interested. All preclinical registration will be made by the Registrar. You must report an accurate email address to the Offices of Student and Academic Affairs, as well as your current home address and phone number.
If you are seeking liability insurance for summer experiences outside the University, you must speak with one of the Associate Deans in the Office of Student and Academic Affairs (OSAA).
Second-year courses begin in August and continue through April of the following year. You will participate in a structured curriculum as outlined below. Optional elective courses are also available for you if interested. All preclinical registration will be made by the Registrar. You must report an accurate email address to the Offices of Student and Academic Affairs, as well as your current home address and phone number.
After the completion of formal courses, you are required to successfully complete a dedicated study period (DSP) - IMC631. More information on the USMLE Step 1 exam is listed below.
You can apply for the Step 1 exam online at nbme.org or usmle.org. Instructions for registration and many other helpful resources can be found in your Office of Medical Education course on UBLearns in the Step 1 Resources folder under Course Documents or the Step 1 Registration webpage. After registering for the exam online, you must complete a certification of identification and authorization form. The office will provide you with additional directions to help you complete the registration process. The Jacobs School Registrar, Sherene Milizia, is the authorized signatory.
Prior to beginning the third year, you are required to take Step 1 of the USMLE. The deadline for taking Step 1 will be established each year by the Offices of Medical Education. Failure of the Step 1 exam will result in you being held out of the next clerkship to allow for successful re-examination, which must be completed prior to the beginning of the next block. You will then be allowed to join the clerkship pending your examination result. A second failure requires you to be placed on a leave of absence. You will not be allowed to re-enter the curriculum until a passing grade is recorded. You are only allowed three (3) opportunities to pass Step 1 of the USMLE before a recommendation for a dismissal from the school is made.
All students take the same 6 required clerkships during third year, but your third year schedule of clerkships is determined by way of a randomized placement. The placement is conducted in spring of your second year. More information will be sent to your UB email.
Third Year also has schedule space for two electives. Elective selection in Medicine/Surgery clerkships takes place in April (fall - blocks 1 and 2) and November (spring - blocks 3 and 4).
Third-year is composed of four 12-week blocks, beginning in June and ending in June of the following year. Your third-year schedule is assigned by the Third Year Lottery, completed in spring of the second year.
Placements within the clerkships is in hospitals, medical centers and private offices throughout Western New York. Under direct supervision, you will observe and participate in the care of patients with a wide variety of illnesses and will be given progressively more responsibility as your skill develops.
Educational experiences also include emphasis on lecture demonstrations of clinical problems, small-group problem-solving, conferences, and ward rounds. Increasing emphasis is placed on disease prevention and primary care. Assessment of clinical competence is addressed through multiple mechanisms.
The year begins with a mandatory orientation: Your first clerkship will begin the following Monday.
Tuesday, June 20 - Friday, June 23, 2023
You will have six-week long clerkships in family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and psychiatry.
Your medicine and surgery clerkships, both six weeks long, are part of a 12 week block (1, 2, 3 or 4) that includes a four-week elective module.
You will be assigned to one of three tracks (A, B or C). The track determines when you have your elective.
Dilemmas in Clinical Medicine as an ongoing course in your third year, addressing medical ethics topics. You will have one class session in each of the 6-week clerkships and two in the 12-week clerkships. You will also have an assignment during each of the 12-week clerkships.
More information will be on MedHub and sent to your UB email.
Core Topics is a two- week course taught during the intersession between fall and spring semesters. This classroom, small group and simulation-based course allows you to use the experience you have gained in clerkships to discuss and learn more about some important issues in clinical medicine.
You will register for your fall semester (June - December) elective in the spring of your second year. Registration for the spring semester (December - June) is in the fall of third year.
A list of available electives will be provided. Instructions for registration will be emailed to you.
*In honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and all that he stood for, there will be no classes at UB on Martin Luther King Day. In addition, all third-year medical students will be excused from all clinical responsibilities on this day. However, you are being asked to use this time to reflect on Dr. King and the whole issue of prejudice, stereotypes and respect for others. All third-year medical students are required to write a “journal entry” where they describe an incident that happened in a clinical setting or in everyday life, where they found themselves looking down on (prejudging, disrespecting, mocking, stereotyping, etc.) a patient or other human being. This "journal entry" is due one week after Martin Luther King Day. The purpose of this reflection is help students identify their own prejudices and think of ways to reduce them. It is hoped that this will lead to better self-awareness and more compassionate care of others. Please understand that if you are assigned to a clinical setting that is closed on Martin Luther King Day you will be expected to use this time to reflect and write a journal entry as outlined above.
Some students may choose to work on Martin Luther King Day. That is fine. Any student who chooses to work, will have the opportunity to do so but should notify the clerkship office AND their attending/resident team if they are planning to report on Monday. Your written work should be submitted to your clerkship directors for review. Please make every attempt to keep your team-members informed of your schedule. We all want this to be a positive experience for all involved.
There will be two weeks of vacation for all students during the intersession period. The exact dates vary from year-to-year, but all students will be on vacation during this two-week period. You will not be permitted to take vacation time other than the two-week winter break, and no out-of-town electives will be allowed during the third year.
All academic deficiencies from the third-year clerkships and courses must be removed before promotion to the fourth year. A student who fails a clerkship clinically must repeat the entire clerkship; this is done over a 6-to-8 week period during the first block following your third year. A student who passes the clerkship clinically, but fails the examination also requires remediation. In this case, the student can either repeat the entire clerkship (as above, over a 6-to-8 week period during the first block of the fourth year) or participate in a concentrated remedial experience (four weeks in duration offered at the end of the third year). This is available for a single clerkship failure only. Details of the remedial experience are at the discretion of the clerkship director.
Failure of a remedial experience will constitute a second clerkship failure and will make the student subject to dismissal from the school. If a student, who passed the clerkship clinically but elected to repeat the entire clerkship, fails the remediation, this will also count as a second clerkship failure and make the student subject to dismissal from the school.
You are required to pass all third-year clerkships before being promoted to fourth year.
All third-year students will take the Third Year Clinical Competency Exam during spring of the third year. Passing of this exam is required for promotion to fourth year. It serves as a practice exam for USMLE Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS). More information about this exam will come from the Office of Student and Academic Affairs to your UB email.
Required fourth-year courses are scheduled by way of the lottery system in MedHub. The lottery is conducted in spring of your third year. You will receive instructions and tips on how to complete the lottery and potentially structure your fourth year schedule during an before the lottery opens. More information will be sent to your UB email.
Fourth-year electives are registered for on a first come first serve basis in Hub, after the fourth-year lottery results are finalized. Instructions on registration will be sent to your UB email.
Passing Step 2 CK is required for graduation. In order to be eligible to participate in the Match, students must meet the following deadlines:
All students applying to residency will need an MSPE, also known as a dean's letter. The Office of Student and Academic Affairs will send more information about the MSPE to your UB email. A meeting between you and one of the Student and Academic Affairs deans will be scheduled during the spring of your third year. There will also be time to review your MSPE before it is submitted during your fourth year.
Graduation Ceremony: Friday, April 26, 2024; Degree Award: June 1, 2024
All MD candidates for the class of 2024 are invited to participate in the commencement ceremony.
The curriculum is designed so you may plan, with faculty advisement, a significant part of your educational program. The elective approach to curriculum affords students with different backgrounds and aspirations an individual educational experience. Through the elective program, you are able to try out possible career choices, gain additional clinical experience, embark upon or conclude research, or re-examine the basic medical sciences. Instructions for registration will be emailed to the your UB email.
The fourth-year schedule is broken up into eleven 4-week modules (Modules A-K). You are required to take seven (7) four-week courses. Required courses in the fourth year include Neurology (NEU 801) and Advanced Clerkship in Medicine (MED 802). Transition to Residency (IMC 810) is also required but does not count towards the 7 total courses. All required courses must be taken in Buffalo. Students who complete NEU 801 during the third-year are still required to take 7 courses. The fourth-year schedule of required courses is determined based on the fourth year lottery, which takes place in spring of your third year.
You may fill the rest of your fourth-year schedule with electives, both at UB and away. Away electives must be applied to via VSAS. More information on both UB and away electives will be sent to you via UB mail in the spring of third year. The schedule also allows for up to three modules of unscheduled time. Module L may only be used to remediate a course failure or if your progress was delayed because of a leave of absence, for example.
The Gold Humanism Honor Society created a Fourth Year Survival Guide, which can be found on UBLearns in your Office of Medical Education class under Course Documents. It provides helpful tips and more detailed information on many topics relevant to fourth-- year medical students.
Note: If Basic Neurology (NEU801) were taken as a third-year elective, additional electives must be completed during fourth year. A total of 7 courses must be completed during fourth year.
You may take out-of-town electives at any of the more than 200 clinical institutions and hospitals with which we have affiliation agreements.
The purpose of an affiliation agreement between UB and an affiliated institution is to advance UB students’ educational programs in a particular educational discipline.
The State University of New York is considered an agency of the State of New York, and therefore, its liability is the same as the State of New York. The affiliation agreement sets forth the educational purposes of the arrangement; the responsibilities of each party; allocation of the risks; any insurance covering any risks; duration of the agreement; and how the parties will coordinate the clinical experience. Without an affiliation agreement, no academic credit can be earned and no medical liability coverage is provided.
If you are participating in health-related clinical experiences, especially those with hands on in either patient care or laboratory testing, there is a risk of a lawsuit. Pursuant to the mandates of the policy, UB must have a written agreement between itself and the Host Institution in order to have insurance coverage extended to you when you are participating in that particular clinical program. Therefore, for health-related student affiliation agreements, SUNY purchases commercial insurance to cover malpractice claims against students. Both defense costs and indemnification in the event of judgment or settlement are covered in the event of a lawsuit being filed naming you as a Defendant. Without a written Affiliation Agreement in place, you will not have coverage for either defense costs or indemnification if such a suit is brought by a third party.
You are not covered when you shadow or do any type of health related clinical experience with a physician, nurse or any other health care provider who is a friend, relative or neighbor of the student, without a written agreement between UB and the Host Institution. In these cases, you are solely liable for your actions because your activities are not under authority or consent of UB.
The current policy is a typical professional insurance contract with an amount not less than $3 Million aggregate for bodily injury and property damaged combined single limit, the standard of the health care industry as determined by the New York State Health Department.
SUNY’s student liability policy does not cover affiliation agreements outside the continental United States. If you wish to do a clinical experience outside the US would have to obtain their own policy of insurance, which can be quite expensive. Liability exposure is not limited just to professional liability. Insurance also covers legal defense costs, which can be quite expensive. In the past, SUNY has entered into several affiliation agreements with agencies in Ontario, Canada so long as the Host Institution signs SUNY’s Standard Affiliation Agreement complete with the Exhibits.
If you wish to work in a physician’s office, a research laboratory, or a hospital/clinic, you must do the following:
(1) Check in the Office of Student and Academic Affairs (OSAA) to determine if an Affiliation Agreement with the host institution is currently in place.
(2) If there is an Agreement in place, see number (4).
(3) If currently there is no Affiliation Agreement, obtain and complete a “Student Affiliation form” from Office of Student and Academic Affairs (OSAA) and return it to the Office of Student and Academic Affairs (OSAA) at least 12 weeks before the experience is to begin.
(4) If an Affiliation Agreement is currently in place or if a new one has been established, you must register for an appropriate course through appropriate channels.
(5) Under no circumstances are you permitted to begin an experience without confirmation of an Affiliation Agreement.
Most students will be applying to residency via the Electronic Residency Application System (ERAS). The MSPE letter will be an important part of your application and will be discussed with you during spring of your third year. Letters of Recommendation and a personal statement are also important pieces of the application. Students applying to Ophthalmology, Urology, or the military match should contact the Office of Student and Academic Affairs for more information on the process special to these fields.
The Gold Humanism Honor Society created a Fourth Year Survival Guide, which can be found on UBLearns in your Office of Medical Education class under Course Documents. It provides helpful tips and more detailed information on many topics relevant to fourth year medical students.
Advisers and faculty as well as members of the dean’s staff in the Office of Medical Education are available to assist third-and fourth-year students in the program-planning process. Requests for special scheduling (such as participation in a program of more than two months in duration or spending more than one month at the same institution) must be brought to the attention of the Office of Student and Academic Affairs and must be approved. When determined to be of educational beneficial for you, individual programs may be modified by the Office of Student and Academic Affairs.
You may qualify for Latin, research or thesis honors at graduation.
You have the opportunity to apply for both research and thesis honors prior to graduation. If you are interested in these honors, you must write a thesis for review by a special committee. Research honors simply require evidence of continuous research that has resulted in either publication(s) or presentation(s) at national meetings.
Visiting students from other medical schools within the U.S. must successfully complete an application process in VSAS in order to take fourth year clinical electives at any of the school’s affiliated hospitals or institutions. The Office of Student and Academic Affairs administers this program. The tremendous demand for educational experiences by students trained elsewhere, especially foreign-trained students far exceeds our ability to accommodate them. We have, therefore, established a policy that will keep open visiting student opportunities for domestic medical students only. For more information, potential visiting students should call (716) 829-2802.
Information about your courses, schedules, clerkships, electives and more will be to your UB email address. Be sure you use your UB email and provide your current home addresses and phone numbers to the Office of Student and Academic Affairs.