College of Medicine aims to educate doctors to become compassionate and thinking members of the medical profession. The Clinical Curriculum is designed to equip students for a life-time of medical practice in a changing world with emphasis on the acquisition of clinical skills by direct patient contact.


In the Basic sciences training, (Problem-Based Learning) PBL give students the opportunity to learn medicine in the community context. Key elements are the care in the community of patients who are also being seen in hospital; the care of chronic and irremediable illness and the influence of the patients' situation (personality, family and environment) on the presentation and management of the illness. Students also gain experience of conditions that are dealt with mainly in the community.

Students will see and be involved in the teamwork required in caring for patients with complex needs.

The content of the curriculum is developed and reviewed and its currency maintained in the context of one of the most successful biomedical research environments in the KSA.  

Aims and Outcomes

Students should acquire the knowledge, skills and behaviors appropriate to the core curriculum of each course phase.

      By the end of the Introductory Course, students should:

  • be cognizant of the community and environment in which they will learn clinical medicine, and be aware that their learning will be self directed and experiential, based on the clinical opportunities available to them;
  • have developed an initial understanding of the Comprehensive Clinical Method which is sufficient to establish a relationship with the patients encountered in Phase I, and which enables them to begin learning clinical medicine through the effective exploration of disease and illness;
  • be aware of the multi-professional nature of clinical practice and the importance of team working;
  • feel that they have been successfully inducted into their profession.

By the end of Phase I, students should:

  • have developed the skills of Clinical Method sufficient to conduct a medical interview, perform a full general physical examination and document their findings;
  • be able to formulate a likely diagnosis, and suggest initial investigations and management of common clinical problems within a growing knowledge base and conceptual framework;
  • be able to identify their strengths and weaknesses and promote plans for future learning;
  • have an appreciation of the scope of clinical medicine and have a sense of orientation within it;
  • have an initial understanding of the interplay of the underlying professional values, personal ideals and constraints of contemporary medical practice.

By the end of Phase II, students should: 

  •   have established the core knowledge base and skills which underpin the clinical specialties;
  •   Be able to apply the knowledge, skills and behaviours acquired in Phase I and to interpret, adapt and extrapolate these in the context of the different clinical specialties;
  •   Have characterized their strengths and weaknesses and be able to describe and appraise a plan for continuing educational and personal development;
  •   Have organized and completed an Elective programme in which they have gained broader clinical and/or research experience of their choosing usually in a different health care system.


By the end of Phase III, students should:

  • have developed the ability to internalise, conceptualise and organise knowledge, skills and behaviours encountered in previous phases of the course;
  • have the knowledge and understanding of the principles of management of common clinical disorders including emergency conditions to a degree sufficient to begin practice as a Preregistration House Officer;
  • have developed a code of personal and professional practice consistent with the ideals and guiding principles of the GMC’s ‘Duties of a Doctor’;
  • have the ability to explore both disease and illness with patients, and meet their communication needs and those of their relatives through the acquisition of effective Comprehensive Clinical Method;
  •  be sufficiently competent in the practical procedures required for the start of the Pre-registration year;
  • be able to work within the organizational, interpersonal and inter-professional dynamics of the clinical team;
  • be able to make judgments about their strengths and weaknesses and take responsibility for continuing learning, personal support and professional development.

 

Teaching and Learning Methods Environment:

throughout the course, the emphasis is on learning in a clinical setting: at the bedside, in outpatient clinics and in PHC Centers supported by seminars, tutorials and discussion groups. Clinical teaching will be organized in hospitals with additional opportunities to attend outpatient clinics in Phase III to reinforce experience gained in the Specialties. Several attachments require students to research and present case-based reports highlighting an aspect of their experience.

Group size: learning in small groups is important with an average of four - six in a Clinical Supervision group and a maximum of 12 students in PBL Group. Tutorials in Family Medicine will be given on a one-to-one or one-to-two basis. They are used to reinforce clinical experiences and presentation skills or develop problem-solving approaches to diagnosis and management.

Lectures: a program of lectures covering core topics will be organized centrally by the respective departments. Students appreciate the focus they provide and the opportunity to meet with their peer group. In general during attachments, the number of lectures is kept to a minimum. 

Practical Clinical Skills: opportunities for learning clinical skills will be provided in all attachments and reinforced by Clinical Supervisors. A Clinical Skills Unit (CSU) will have the responsibility for helping to plan and deliver a vertically-integrated program of clinical skills supported by practical clinical skills centers in the regional hospitals.

Library and IT Facilities: all Clinical Students will register with the Medical Library, which will be a branch of the main University Library.