Medicine Lebanese American University (LAU)

Overview

The integration of basic and clinical sciences helps consolidate knowledge application and clinical skills simultaneously.

Key Facts

A fundamental goal of the four-year curriculum of this Medicine program at Lebanese American University (LAU) is to equip students with the skills and attitudes required to become independent life-long learners, problem solvers and critical thinkers. With the exponential growth in medical knowledge, it is vital to focus on teaching students how to learn, rather than on imparting a huge body of information.

The key characteristics of the program include:

• Contextual Learning:  The objective is to link information to its clinical application. It is not enough to remember a list of structures; instead, the student needs to recognize their function(s) and the consequences of their loss through disease or injury.

• Self-Directed Learning: This plays an important role in the curriculum. In the pre-clinical phase, protected time is identified in the timetable for SDL, so that students develop self-learning skills and master the topics in question. The information given in the learning objectives, in addition to the resources provided, enables students to plan their studies and use these SDL time slots for learning. For instance, students can complete their Problem-Based Learning assignments and read their learning topics during these SDL hours.

• An Enquiry-Structured Study Strategy (Case-Based, Problem-Based Learning): This differs substantially from programs based on pure didactic teaching. A clinical problem initiates the activity. This stimulates the group to explore basic scientific and clinical mechanisms together with social, psychological, ethical and professional issues.

• Early Clinical Exposure: From the Med-I year and onward, students will see and examine real patients and patients in simulation labs.

• Simulators and the Clinical Simulation Center (CSC)Learning and practicing clinical maneuvers on manikins will allow students to acquire skills in a risk-free environment. In addition, actors from the drama division of the School of Arts & Sciences will portray patients and their families. However, real patients will still be an integral part of education especially in the clinical phase of the curriculum.

• Summative and Formative Assessments: Students are partners in both education and assessment. Understanding their level of performance is key to reaching competence. While summative assessment is meant to grade the student with regard to satisfactory or unsatisfactory performance and to make pass/fail decisions, formative assessment on the other hand is frequently implemented in the curriculum to help the student, through feedback, identify areas for improvement.