Newly updated Medical Education Program Objectives (MEPOs) are designed to better equip you for what’s next:
- Thriving in residency
- Practicing as a physician
The objectives we’re sharing today come after 18 months of analysis and review, and feedback from stakeholders throughout WWAMI including medical students on governance committees. We’ll mark this announcement by profiling one objective a week for six weeks in this newsletter.
Streamlined Objectives for Focused Learning
MEPOs are a requirement of every medical school in the country. These MEPOs outline the competencies you need to achieve by the end of medical school. The team’s work reduced the previous 61 objectives to 32 to create a more focused learning path.
Objectives now align with six core competency domains, including:
- Medical knowledge
- Patient care
- Communication
- Service to Patients and Community (Professionalism)
- Systems-based practice
- Practice-based learning and improvement
Clear Alignment with Residency Competencies
- These core competencies mirror those used to evaluate you during residency, ensuring a smoother transition from medical school to your next stage.
- You’ll know exactly how your medical education is preparing you for future residency evaluations.
Mapping Courses and Assessments for Progress
- Every course, assessment, and clinical experience is now being mapped to these objectives.
- This allows you to track measurable progress throughout your education, showing how you’re developing essential skills for your future role as a physician.
Preparing You for Success
- The revised objectives ensure you are not only ready for graduation but also equipped to succeed in residency and beyond.
- By focusing on what truly matters, these changes support your growth as a future healthcare professional.
Competency of the Week: Patient Care
Demonstrates compassionate, effective, evidence-informed, and equitable patient-centered care.
Learning objectives:
- PC.01 Gathers patient histories, including multiple data sources as necessary, and performs a physical examination.
- PC.02 Creates differential diagnoses, proposes diagnostic testing and interprets results based upon most likely diagnosis.
- PC.03 Proposes management plans for commonly encountered conditions based on scientific evidence and clinical judgment.
- PC.04 Identifies patients in need of urgent or emergent care, seeks assistance immediately, and recommends initial evaluation and management.
- PC.05 Adapts care equitably to the clinical situation integrating patient and caregiver identities, values, and preferences.
- PC.06 Performs procedures considered essential for entering residency.
- PC.07 Collaborates in transitions and coordination of patient care, including patient handoffs.
- PC.08 Appropriately applies technology to inform clinical reasoning and decision making.
Why This Matters:
“Patient care isn’t just about treating symptoms; it’s about understanding and caring for the whole person in their community. By practicing these competencies, we not only provide effective treatment but also build trust. Mastering these skills is more than a requirement—it’s the foundation for compassionate, equitable care that makes a lasting impact on patients’ lives.”
~ Heather McPhillips, MD, MPH, Associate Dean for Curriculum