Department of Medical Education and Clinical Sciences

The Department of Medical Education and Clinical Sciences (DMECS) delivers the MD program and administers two professional certificates, the Certificate in Healthcare Leadership and the Certificate in Medical Ethics for the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine.  The department also offers the Master of Healthcare Administration and Leadership degree.  The department collaborates across disciplines to prepare tomorrow’s physicians as compassionate, community-engaged leaders, innovators and change agents and to conduct research that advances the delivery of care. It unites faculty members in a range of clinical disciplines and specialties. Together with the Dean and Administration, and in collaboration with sister schools, colleges, and departments, the department works to establish educational goals, plan course content, teach and conduct research.

Investigations conducted within the department are numerous and include the following (partial list):

• Population-based interventions to improve health care delivery
• Clinical studies related to the delivery of personalized care
• Transdisciplinary investigations to address challenges that span science, technology, and medicine
• Training medical students in research methods to improve clinical care
• Medical education studies that lead to innovations in physician training

The MD program is accredited by Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities and by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.

Washington State Licensure Requirements

Licensure requirements vary by state. To obtain a medical license in Washington state applicants are required to have graduated from an accredited or approved medical school and completed adequate time in residency training. Applicants must pass all three steps of the United States Medical Licensing Examination. A list of additional requirements for licensure is available from the Washington State Department of Health website: www.doh.wa.gov.

College of Medicine Program Core Competencies
 

The College of Medicine program incorporates core competencies that our faculty commits to teaching, and our students are expected to learn, which will be evaluated to ensure that all graduating students attain the appropriate level of mastery to succeed in their careers.

Core Competencies

All competencies must be achieved at a level sufficient for entry into graduate medical education, enabling students to lead, innovate, and solve problems in challenging health care environments.

1. Medical and Scientific Knowledge:
   Demonstrates knowledge of established and evolving concepts in medicine including biomedical, clinical, epidemiological, health systems, and social-behavioral perspectives in the care of patients and communities.
2. Patient Care and Health Promotion:
   Provides evidence-based care that is compassionate, culturally-appropriate, and effective for illness prevention, health promotion, management, and treatment of disease, and improvement in quality of life, including end-of-life care.
3. Professionalism and Self-Awareness:
   Demonstrates commitment and adherence to principles of the profession, and awareness of how one’s own interests, personal biases, vulnerabilities, and limitation of knowledge.
4. Practice-Based and Life-Long Learning:
   Demonstrates the ability to appraise, assimilate, and incorporate scientific evidence and innovate, as needed, to evaluate and improve patient care practices based on continuous self-evaluation and life-long learning.
5. Systems-Based and Inter-Professional Practice:
   Demonstrates awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context of health care, and the ability to call on system resources, including other health care professionals, to provide optimal care.
6. Interpersonal and Communication Skills:
   Demonstrates effective information exchange and collaboration with patients, patients’ families, peers, other health professionals, and the community to enhance care.

Master of Healthcare Administration and Leadership

Offered by the College of Medicine through the WSU Global campus, the Master of Healthcare Administration and Leadership degree is earned following the completion of three certificates (the Foundations of Leadership, the Essentials of Healthcare, and the Managing the Business of Healthcare) and a capstone course. 

• Foundations of Leadership (MED HAL 501, 502, 503, and 504)
• Essentials of Healthcare (MED HAL 505, 506, 507, and 508)
• Managing the Business of Healthcare (ACCTG 550, B A 501, 502, and 504, and MGMT 593)
• MED HAL 600