Curriculum | Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine (2024)

The Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine strives to provide a world-class medical education that ignites a passion for learning, a desire to serve, and an unwavering commitment to improve the health and well-being of patients and communities. Our INSPIRE Curriculum encompasses the tenets of Integration, Nurturance, Scholarship, Population Health, Innovation, Resilience, and Equity. Our forward-thinking approach aims to foster excellent clinicians prepared to lead in any field or setting in medicine.

The Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine's curriculum is built on the three pillars of Biomedical Science, Clinical Science, and Health Systems Science. Through our spiral approach to learning, you'll revisit these key areas over the next four years, digging deeper each time and developing an increasingly sophisticated understanding. As you encounter these topics in new settings and contexts, you'll conclude your education prepared to deliver exceptional medical care, wherever you choose to practice.

Just as every patient faces distinct circ*mstances, every member of the healthcare team contributes unique perspectives. Our curriculum teaches the knowledge, skills, and attitudes you’ll need to effectively engage with and care for an increasingly diverse population.

You’ll work alongside fellow students to understand and address socially and culturally based health disparities, to promote health equity. And you’ll study self-awareness, unconscious bias, and diversity and inclusion in the workplace to increase your cultural sensitivity and empathy, both for patients and colleagues.

Interprofessional education is an essential experience for future clinicians. IPE depends on dialogue and collaboration among interdisciplinary health professionals, who can advance their own knowledge and skills by sharing learning and skills with each other.

The school’s curriculum will allow you to learn fundamental IPE knowledge, apply this knowledge through acquiring skills in a simulated setting, and provide collaborative care, thereby preparing you for a future in team-based medicine.

KPSOM thoroughly prepares graduates for the challenges that come with residency. Our innovative curriculum readies students to embark on a range of career paths, and to become outstanding clinicians in their chosen specialty.

The Integrated Sciences courses take place over the first two phases (years) and use patient cases that evolve over one to two weeks as the context for integrating core knowledge and skills from the three pillars of the school curriculum (Biomedical Science, Clinical Science, and Health Systems Science) as well as the four longitudinal threads (Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity; Health Promotion; Interprofessional Collaboration; and Leadership). Students will discuss and ask questions during these case sessions in a small-group format that supports deep learning and nurtures curiosity.

Students and faculty facilitators will develop longitudinal relationships over each year. Case work will continue with simulation and interactive laboratory sessions using cutting-edge technology to enhance learning disciplines such as anatomy and pathology, as well as clinical reasoning and procedures. There will be a significant amount of unstructured time throughout the week for students to engage in independent learning utilizing an array of self-study resources to prepare for in-class instruction and consolidate prior learning.

The Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC) modelrestructures the student’s and patient’s experience of caregiving in each of the core clerkship specialties of Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine/Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Surgery by eliminating traditional block rotations. Instead, students learn core skills by following panels of patients over time, while maintaining one-on-one relationships with a preceptor. Students observe patients through the entire care continuum, including diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. Students will still also experience block rotations in Years 3 and 4 for advanced clinical experiences.

LICs at the school will start early on, with first- and second-year students hosted at one of our seven medical centers in the greater Los Angeles area: Downey, Los Angeles, Panorama City, Fontana, South Bay, Orange County, and West Los Angeles. Students in their third and fourth years will have the opportunity to take advantage of Kaiser Permanente's national network, working in other Southern California medical centers or in regions across the country.

Over your four years at the school, you'll also participate in a five-module learning series called REACH (Reflection, Education, Assessment, Coaching, and Health and well-being), which takes place every quarter in one-week blocks and emphasizes personal and professional development.

REACH weeks will include time for learning about your health and well-being, and exploring ways to maximize your resilience skills. You will also engage in self-reflection and goal-setting with your REACH coach and explore your developing professional identity as a future physician.

Each student will meaningfully explore an area of individual interest as they complete a scholarly project under the close guidance of a faculty member. Students interested in pursuing additional in-depth scholarship worthy of publication will have access to the substantial resources of the school and the Kaiser Permanente research enterprise.

Students may apply to programs offering additional degrees. Doing so will allow students to pursue deep expertise in areas of special interest, preparing them for any type of career in medicine. The school is establishing relationships with some of the most prestigious universities in Southern California. Students must apply separately to the school and the additional degree program, and must be admitted to both. Programs may have varying application timelines.

This program is designed for students interested in pursuing in-depth research to identify and bridge gaps to advance health. Students will typically perform summer research rotations at Caltech before, during, and after the first two years of medical school at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine. Subsequently, they will carry out their doctoral degree work in any of the multiple areas of research offered at Caltech, ranging from bioengineering and biochemistry to computational and neural systems.

Upon completion of their PhD dissertation, students return to the school to finish their MD studies. We expect that these doctors will not only excel at patient care but also be equipped to successfully challenge current and future impediments to the well-being of their patients and communities.

All Phase 1 courses (Integrated Sciences, LIC, and REACH) will be graded on a pass/fail basis. This approach emphasizes student competence and fosters a collaborative, non-competitive learning environment. Moreover, studies of medical education have shown this approach improves mental health and well-being for students, without negatively affecting academic outcomes.

In Phase 2, the Integrated Sciences and REACH courses will also be pass/fail. However, the Phase 2 LIC will be graded on a tiered basis as will be all Phase 3 Clinical Experiences. This approach provides the opportunity for distinction in clinical skills evaluated by program directors as part of the residency application process.