DO Curriculum at Rowan-Virtua SOM

Tensegrity and Osteopathy

In osteopathic medicine, the concept of tensegrity refers to the balance of forces in the musculoskeletal system that help keep the body stable and efficient in mass and movement. The Tensegrity Curriculum is an integrated, balanced program that trains future physicians to treat the whole patient and promote health by addressing their mental, physical and spiritual well-being.

We advance our mission through the Tensegrity Curriculum, beginning on day one. Our students are grounded in our osteopathic philosophy and ready to meet future healthcare workforce needs by learning how to balance the skills they need to be a great doctor.

DO Curriculum Highlights

Pre-Clerkship

SOM's pre-clerkship curriculum offers a comprehensive medical education that integrates osteopathic medicine and philosophy with basic science disciplines to provide a strong foundation in medical knowledge and practice. The courses are developed to encourage critical thinking and promote collaboration. In addition to the standard curriculum, a student can enhance their learning by completing one of our 12 areas of distinction to hone their skills in specific areas of interest.

Pre-Clerkship components

• System blocks
• Intensive weeks
• BRIDGE weeks
• Courses
  • Osteopathic Clinical Skills
  • Medical Scholarship
  • Community Service Learning & Leadership

Clerkship

The required core clerkships are hosted at 15 different hub sites across the region. A few of the highlights of our clerkship curriculum include:

• Clerkship Clinical Skills Course
  • Two week prep course for all students prior to the first day of clinical clerkships to ensure readiness
• Community Service Learning & Leadership 3 - a partnership with NJ AHEC and other medically underserved communities
• Geriatrics Clerkship at nationally-ranked NJISA
• Four week Integrated OMM and Rehabilitation Clerkship
• Transition to Residency (TTR - residency procedural "boot camp")
• Two-week Intensive Care Unit selective - ICU/NICU/PICU/SICU

BRIDGE Weeks

These weeks occur a total of four times over the course of your medical school education: twice in the first year, once in the second year, and once in the third year. These weeks are designed to give formative feedback on knowledge skills and attitudes, accumulated by set points based on benchmarks determined by faculty and the assessment department.

BRIDGE week assessment activities include combinations of several core elements:

Building skills

Reflecting

Integrating

Developing

Goal setting

Evaluating

Summary of Objectives

DO Curriculum

More detailed information about Rowan-Virtua SOM's DO curriculum is available in the "Programmatic Level Objectives and Course Descriptions for the Tensegrity Curriculum."