Doctor of Medicine

MD Curriculum - 4 Year MD Program

The Stony Brook School of Medicine LEARN (Learning-focused, Experiential, Adaptive, Rigorous, Novel) curriculum provides the opportunity for extensive and integrated training in the basic medical sciences and clinical disciplines of medicine. There are three distinct phases in LEARN: Phase I - the Foundational Phase- of 18 months; Phase II - the Primary Clinical Phase- of 12 months; and Phase III - the Advanced Clinical Phase - of 16 months. “Transition” courses occur at key transitional times in students’ medical training. Five themes of care are woven across the entire curriculum: Patient-Centered Care, Evidence-Based Care, Patient Safety and Quality Care, Ethical and Professional Care, and Health Promotion and Preventive Care.

Phase I

Phase I begins with Transition to Medical and Dental School (TMDS), a one-week course that is designed to foster new medical students’ transition from a layperson to a medical professional in training. TMDS is followed by a 24-week course organized into four distinct components - The Body (anatomy); Molecular Foundations of Medicine (biochemistry; cellular biology and physiology; and pharmacologic principles);Pathogens and Host Defense (integrating immunology, inflammation, microbiology and immunologic diseases);and Basic Mechanisms of Disease (integrating histology, general pathology, hematologic and neoplastic diseases, and dermatologic diseases). Phase I concludes with a 36-week sequence of five systems-based Integrated Pathophysiology courses: Cardiovascular-Pulmonary-Renal, Gastrointestinal, Endocrine-Reproductive, and Mind-Brain-Behavior (which integrates fundamental neuroanatomy and neuroscience with neuropathology and psychiatric disorders). Integrated across the systems blocks are physiology, histology, pathology, histopathology, pharmacology and therapeutics.

Three longitudinal courses span the entire Phase I: Introduction to Clinical Medicine (ICM), Themes in Medical Education (TIME), and Medicine in Contemporary Society (MCS). ICM introduces students to the clinical skills required to examine and integrate clinical information from patient history and physical exam. MCS introduces students to ethical and social issues in current healthcare. TIME are week-long units that bridge key content across the curriculum. TiME weeks have a patient focus within an active learning environment.

Phase I provides time during the first summer for research, clinical shadowing, global health studies, and/or a vacation.

Phase II

Phase II, the Primary Clinical Phase, begins with a 1-2week Transition to Clinical Care course (TCC) followed by four 12-week blocks of core clerkships: internal medicine (8wks) and primary care medicine (4wks); pediatrics (6wks) and obstetrics and gynecology (6wks); surgery (8wks), emergency medicine (2wks) and anesthesiology (2wks); psychiatry (6wks), neurology (4wks) and radiology (2wks). Some 12-week clerkship blocks will be capped by a one-week Translational Pillar, which integrates cutting edge basic science and translational medicine in the context of clinical care.

Primary clinical clerkships are completed at Stony Brook University Hospital, as well as other major teaching affiliates.

Phase III

Phase III, the Advanced Clinical Phase, spans 18 months and offers students maximum flexibility. Students complete a 4-week Selective, a 4-week sub-internship (in anesthesiology, family medicine, medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, surgery, emergency medicine, ob/gyn, orthopaedics, or urology), an individualized 2-weekAdvanced Clinical Experience, and a 4-week Transition to Residency course. Students also complete a minimum of26 weeks of electives.

School of Medicine Academic
Policy and Procedures: https://renaissance.stonybrookmedicine.edu/ugme/policies

MD Curriculum - 3 Year MD Program

The Stony Brook School of Medicine’s 3-Year MD program (3YMD) is a program that offers a limited number of students who have already been accepted into Stony Brook School of Medicine’s 4-year MD program the opportunity to complete their MD in three years. Students who are accepted into the 3YMD track are also offered conditional acceptance into a Stony Brook School of Medicine residency program of their choice. 3YMD students are required to complete academic courses before Phase I of the LEARN curriculum begins in August. 3YMD students are also required to complete ten weeks of academic credits within the graduate medical education (GME/residency) program of their choice during the summer between their first and second years. The completion of summer academic credits allows3YMD students to fulfill the requirements for an MD degree, as designated by the LCME, in three years. 3YMD students will complete Phase I and Phase II of the LEARN curriculum in its entirety, and Phase III will be modified.

The academic requirements for the 4-year and 3-year MD programs are similar; however, students in the 3YMD track are expected to achieve additional explicit academic and progressional standards. Students in the 3YMD track who encounter academic difficulties will not be able to complete all of the requirements for the MD degree in three years. Such students will exit the 3YMD track and enter the 4-year MD program. Upon exiting the 3YMD track, these students will lose the GME spot they held and must enter the main Match for securing a residency.

Students accepted to the 3YMD track are not permitted to take a year off for research, and they will not be able to participate in joint degree programs (MD/MPH, MD/MBA, MD/MA). Students in the 3YMD track have the option to switch to the 4-year MD program.

School of Medicine Academic
Policy and Procedures: https://renaissance.stonybrookmedicine.edu/ugme/policies

Affiliated Hospitals

Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH) is Long Island’s premier academic medical center serving the healthcare needs of Long Island residents. With 603 beds, SBUH serves as the region’s only tertiary care center and Level 1 Trauma Center, and is home to the Stony Brook Heart Institute, Stony Brook Cancer Center, Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, Stony Brook Neurosciences Institute, and Stony Brook Digestive Disorders Institute. At any given time ~150 Stony Brook School of Medicine students and ~350 residents of all specialties are receiving experiential training at SBUH.

Stony Brook Medicine is partnering with hospitals from Manhattan to Montauk to create a clinically integrated network to serve the residents of Long Island. In August 2016, Stony Brook Medicine and the Mount Sinai Health System entered into an affiliation agreement that includes collaboration on research, academic programs and clinical care initiatives. The two institutions launched the partnership to heighten academic and research synergies and to promote discovery, provide expanded clinical trials for both institutions and achieve breakthroughs in understanding and treating disease. In separate agreements, Southampton Hospital and Eastern Long Island Hospital (ELIH) have joined the Stony Brook Medicine healthcare system to transform healthcare on the East End of Long Island.

Mount Sinai Partnership

The Mount Sinai affiliation will revolutionize medical research by combining expertise from two premier medical schools. Mount Sinai and Stony Brook will collaborate to develop a wide range of research programs in fields including biomedical engineering and computer science; drug discovery and medicinal chemistry sciences; neuroscience, neurology and psychiatry; basic biology and novel therapeutics; and, public health and health systems.

The affiliation will capitalize on Stony Brook’s expertise in mathematics, high-performance computing, imaging, and the physical and chemical sciences, as well as Mount Sinai’s strengths in biomedical and clinical research, and health policy and outcomes.

Through the relationship, the schools will develop joint graduate and medical educational programs in all areas, leveraging the strength of existing master’s and doctoral programs at each institution. Students will have the opportunity to take classes on both campuses, allowing them to learn new techniques and expand their learning capacity. Mount Sinai and Stony Brook will also build summer programs for undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate students.

Mount Sinai and Stony Brook will invest a combined $500,000 to launch competitive and unique pilot programs, with the intent to receive collaborative external funding. Projects will be determined and overseen by a committee composed of three representatives from each institution.

East End Hospitals

In January 2015, the State University of New York (SUNY) Board of Trustees approved Southampton Hospital to join the Stony Brook Medicine healthcare system. Now called Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, the 125-bed facility joined Stony Brook Medicine on Aug. 1, 2017. The two institutions will work closely together to improve healthcare quality and access, coordination of care and efficiency for patients across the East End of Long Island.

And in May 2016, the SUNY Board of Trustees approved Eastern Long Island Hospital (ELIH), a 90-bed hospital on the North Fork of Long Island, to join the Stony Brook Medicine healthcare system as well. Stony Brook has enjoyed longstanding relationships with both hospitals in providing healthcare services for the East End of Long Island for many years. Now we are building on our collaboration to provide care in ways that are even more complementary, efficient and effective.

Patients will benefit from these partnerships because they help the hospitals match the level of care provided to the level of care needed. They also help address the challenges of healthcare reform by cultivating a broader, stronger network of hospitals and healthcare providers to improve efficiency, control costs and better coordinate care across Suffolk County.

Pending approval by regulatory and various New York State agencies, our planned collaborations will bring together the intimacy and accessibility of high-quality community hospitals with the specialized clinical resources and educational programs of an academic medical center, in a complementary fashion.

Our vision is to create the pre-eminent healthcare delivery system for Long Island, working together with Mount Sinai, Southampton Hospital, Eastern Long Island Hospital and other regional hospitals, post-acute care providers, care management organizations, community-based organizations, behavioral health providers and community physician practices.

Academic Requirements

Grading Policy:

An important goal of the LEARN curriculum is to provide students with interdisciplinary courses that are integrated to the greatest possible extent. Students will be evaluated on both acquisition of knowledge and skills and professional development and values. Advancement throughout medical school will depend on acquiring a good medical knowledge base, achieving basic bedside skills, communicating competently, and demonstrating professional values. Students must successfully complete the entire LEARN curriculum to graduate.

The School of Medicine uses a 3-tier system of grading for Phase I courses: Honors, Pass, Fail. Core clinical clerkships, sub-internships and elective rotations in Phases II and III are graded on a 5-tier system: Honors, High Pass, Pass, Low Pass, Fail. Core clinical clerkships require passage of an NBME subject exam at the5th percentile level, at minimum, as determined by the latest academic year norms from the NBME for examinee performance. A ‘Z’ may be given in a clinical course toa student who has passed other elements of a course, but failed the initial attempt of the NBME subject exam for that course. A second failure converts the Z to a Z/F. If the student passes the make-up subject exam, the Z is converted to a P. Transition courses, short-course electives and longitudinal courses are graded on a Pass/Fail basis.

Other recorded grades include I (Incomplete), W (Withdrawal), and PO (Placed-Out). An Incomplete signifies that extenuating circumstances, usually out of the student’s control, have prevented the student from completing the course requirements. A grade of Incomplete will be replaced by the final grade when the student completes the requirement. Withdrawal signifies that the student withdrew before completing course objectives. Placed-Out signifies that the student was given credit for a course by (a) having previously taken the same or a similar course and/or (b) by passing an exam deemed appropriate and sufficient by the course director.

Academic Standing:

A student in good standing:

1. Has passing grades in all courses, clerkships, electives, standardized patient exams and other mandatory exercises; and
2. Has passed appropriate USMLE exams in the recommended time period during medical school; and
3. Is not on academic probation; and
4. Behaves in accordance with high standards of professional and academic ethics.

The Committee on Academic and Professional Progress (CAPP) may review the record of any student who loses good standing. Absent an exception granted by CAPP, only students in good standing will be permitted to begin a new Phase. Loss of good standing ends a student’s eligibility for some special programs or activities, e.g. the Scholarly Concentrations Program, approval for conference travel, and permission to take clinical electives at other institutions. Loss of good standing results in loss of eligibility for educational loans. For purposes of international electives, due to travel arrangements involved, academic good standing will be assessed based on the student’s record one semester before travel. However, students with concerns of chronic marginality may not be eligible for international electives or research scholarships. In such situations, the Vice Dean for UGME will make the final decision regarding such eligibility. Students are placed on academic probation by CAPP as a warning that they are in danger of suspension or dismissal. CAPP may put a student on academic probation if the student:

1. Fails any course, clerkship, elective, or mandatory exercise;
2. Has been cited for lack of acceptable academic ethics or professional behavior;
3. Does not pass USMLE Step I in a timely manner;
4. Has two or more Incompletes and /or “Z” ‘s;
5. Has a pattern of marginal academic performance.

The CAPP may remove a student from academic probation after the student has, to the satisfaction of the committee, remedied the problem giving rise to probation. All assignments to probationary status will appear in the student’s MSPE letter. The student will return to good standing upon completion of the required remediation and the required probation period.