School of Medicine Mission Statement
Mission
University Mission Statement
The University of Louisville pursues excellence and inclusiveness in its work to educate and serve its community through:
- teaching diverse undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in order to develop engaged citizens, leaders, and scholars;
- practicing and applying research, scholarship and creative activity; and
- providing engaged service and outreach that improve the quality of life for local and global communities.
The University is committed to achieving preeminence as a nationally recognized metropolitan research university.
School of Medicine Mission Statement
Improve the health and vitality of our community, our commonwealth, and our world by educating the next generation of physicians and scientists, providing high-quality compassionate care, pursuing transformative research, forging strategic partnerships, and striving for inclusive excellence.
School of Medicine Vision Statement
Demonstrate and be recognized for excellence and leadership in education, research, clinical care, innovative partnerships, and diversity, equity & inclusion.
School of Medicine Program Objectives
Competency 1: Patient Care - Provide patient-centered care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective for the treatment of health problems and the promotion of health. Graduates will use these skills to:
1.1 Perform a skilled physical examination and other procedures of a physician
1.2 Take an effective history using patient/family interview and their medical records
1.3 Correctly interpret the results of common screening and diagnostic tests, procedures, and examinations for each core specialty area of training
1.4 Use evidence in a patient's case to create a differential diagnosis, seeking out additional information and revising as the situation changes
1.5 Create and manage an effective health promotion or treatment plan
1.6 Use informed consent and shared decision-making with patients and families to ensure that prescribed care is based on a realistic appraisal of their condition, their goals and available resources
1.7 Effectively assess patients or populations for relevant medical or social determinants of disease
Competency 2: Knowledge for Practice - Develop and apply a working personal knowledge base of established and evolving biomedical, clinical, epidemiological and social-behavioral sciences to patient care. Graduates will use this knowledge to:
2.1 Relate understanding of normal structure and function and risk factors for disease to patient health counseling
2.2 Explain the scientific basis for laboratory, imaging, and procedural diagnostic tests used in patient care and their clinical significance
2.3 Apply fundamental science concepts to an understanding of disease and health
2.4 Recommend the optimal treatment or prevention for each patient based on the scientific and clinical basis for their use
2.5 Evaluate patient and population-level healthcare problems using the principles of evidence-based practice and high-value healthcare, including an applied understanding of research methods and the results of relevant research studies
Competency 3: Practice-Based Learning and Improvement - Demonstrate the ability to investigate and evaluate one’s care of patients, to appraise and assimilate scientific evidence, and to continuously improve patient care based on constant self-evaluation and life-long learning Graduates will use these skills to:
3.1 Reflect on colleague and/or patient encounters and their impact on future practice in order to improve as physicians
3.2 Develop and adjust as necessary a personal strategy for maintaining a current knowledge base as medicine evolves.
Competency 4: Interpersonal and Communication Skills - Demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that result in the effective exchange of information and collaboration with patients, their families, and health professionals. Graduates will use these skills to:
4.1. Effectively explain core aspects of medical care to patients and families using language they can understand, checking to ensure you are understood
4.2. Communicate effectively and accurately as a professional when writing and speaking, including in written communication in the medical record, and when communicating with other clinical care providers, patients, payors, and healthcare systems
4.3. Adjust style of communication with individual patients or other healthcare providers for maximum effectiveness, based on sensitivity to each individual's language, abilities, culture, preferences and needs
4.4 Apply and modify specific and/or specialized communication strategies and techniques effectively as indicated with patients, families, and colleagues in the healthcare field
Competency 5: Professionalism - Demonstrate a commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities and an adherence to ethical principles. Graduates will use these attitudes to:
5.1 Exhibit behaviors of professionalism required for working in a stressful and team-oriented environment, including self-regulation and awareness of own limitations
5.2. Formation of a healthy professional identity that adheres to the standards of the medical profession, including respect for all persons, compassion and empathy, trustworthiness, and high emotional intelligence
5.3 Display personal integrity and adheres to the ethics of the profession
5.4 Establish effective work habits, including timely and organized completion of required duties and assignments, prompt communication, follow-up of ongoing tasks, and effectively adjusting the approach to learning as training evolves
Competency 6: Systems -Based Practice - Demonstrate an awareness of, and responsiveness to, the larger context and system of health care as well as the ability to call effectively on other resources in the system to provide optimal health care. Graduates will use these skills and attitudes to:
6.1 Assist and advocate for individual patients and populations experiencing healthcare disparities or other vulnerabilities
6.2 Identify and remediate problems with safety and medical errors
6.3 Understand the financial aspects of the medical system and effectively address them in the hospital and outpatient setting
6.4 Provide care that takes into consideration costs to the patient and the health care system
6.5 Provide care that is coordinated across teams, providers, and sites
6.6. Provide care and keep medical records in a way that actively protects against concerns about fraud, negligence, or lack of compliance with professional standards
Competency 7: Interprofessional Collaboration - Demonstrate the ability to engage in an interprofessional team in a manner that optimizes safe, effective patient- and population-centered care. Graduates will use these skills to:
7.1 Work as a team member with other health professionals to establish and maintain a climate of safety, mutual respect, dignity, trust, inclusion and ethical integrity
7.2. Use the knowledge of one’s own role and the roles of other health professionals to appropriately assess and generate support for the additional health care needs of patients and populations
Competency 8: Personal and Professional Development - Demonstrate the qualities required to sustain lifelong personal and professional growth. Graduates will use these skills to:
8.1. Set and revise effective personal and professional development goals based on participation in formal self-assessment, advising, career exploration, and periodic reflection activities.
8.2. Develop and revise a formal strategy for wellness and self-care, implement it, and periodically review its effectiveness to improve your practice.
