Educational Objective

Since accepting its first class in 1970, the primary responsibility of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine has been to provide our students with an accessible, comprehensive and personally rewarding medical education of the highest quality and one which optimally prepares them to excel as tomorrow's physicians—caring, competent, productive and fulfilled in their chosen career serving a diversity of patients, communities and the health sciences. The school is committed to training in the full range of medical disciplines, with an emphasis on practice in the primary care specialties, in the public sector and in underserved areas of Massachusetts. Our educational program, nationally recognized for excellence in primary care training by U.S.News & World Report, has benefited from recent investments in state-of-the-art educational technology and medical simulation, and an array of expanded elective offerings to complement our new competency-based curriculum. Our education program provides outstanding clinical training and preparation for graduates' diverse career choices beyond medical school, whether in primary care or the medical specialties, and our fast-paced growth and leadership in health science research offers exceptional research opportunities for our students.

The medical school's educational mission is enhanced by over 45 accredited residency and 28 fellowship programs; the awarding of over 31,000 continuing medical education certificates to date to the region's health care professionals; cooperative degree programs with area colleges and universities; diverse community-based education programs across the state of Massachusetts; outstanding achievements in basic and clinical research in the health sciences; and our ForHealth Consulting initiative, dedicated to serving the state's broad community of health care and service agencies. As the commonwealth's only public medical school, UMass Chan places an emphasis on partnerships with the community, creating opportunities for students to learn in and contribute to serving Massachusetts communities and the care of our vulnerable populations.

The T.H. Chan School of Medicine's educational program has been enriched through national grant awards that promote quality, innovation and national distinction in medical education. Over the past 10 years, these awards have included:

• Integrated Geriatrics Education: A Model Curriculum across the Medical Education Continuum, Donald W. Reynolds Foundation Aging and Quality of Life Program(2009-2012),addressing the special health care needs of the elderly through targeted, comprehensive curricula.
• NIDA Centers of Excellence for Physician Information, National Institute for Drug Abuse (2007-2009), providing targeted curriculum in prescription drug abuse education.
• Marrow for Tomorrow, Association of American Medical Colleges Caring for Community grant (2005-2007), a student-led initiative to increase the representation of underserved minority populations in the marrow donor pool through outreach and education.
• AMA Medical Education Research Consortium, American Medical Association (2005-2007), a national consortium of medical schools dedicated to furthering rigorous research in medical education, with a focus on the “art of medicine” competencies.
• Stemmler Medical Education Grant, National Board of Medical Examiners (2003-2005) investigating the use of standardized patients in assessing medical students’ behaviors and skills in the domain of professionalism.
• Educational Development for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, (2003-2007), integrating educational objectives and curricula in complementary and alternative medicine into the mainstream of the Medical School curriculum.
• A Comprehensive Approach to Sexual Health in Undergraduate Medical School Curricula, Pfizer, Inc. (2001-2003), promoting the development of curricular innovations in sexual health.
• Enhancing Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine Education in Undergraduate Medical Education, AAMC/John A. Hartford Foundation (2001-2003), dedicated to enhancing our students’ preparedness and commitment to care for the needs of the elderly.
• Macy Initiatives in Health Communication, Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation (1998-2006), a multi-staged project designed to catapult communication skills into the mainstream of medical education.
• Undergraduate Medical Education for the 21st Century Associate Partnership (1998-2001), promoting teaching and understanding about our changing health care systems, medical care delivery models and health policies.

The Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences trains students as scientists through laboratory research relating to human disease, and as educators by promoting service as faculty members in institutions devoted to the medical sciences. UMass Chan-trained research scientists also play a key role in the commonwealth's vital biotechnology industry.

The Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing offers master’s, post-master’s and doctoral degrees, providing high quality education to prepare registered professional and advanced practice nurses within nurse practitioner and nurse educator specialties and for faculty, research and other nursing leadership positions.

Currently supporting more than 300 investigators, the growth of the UMass Chan research enterprise has led to stimulating advancements in the treatment of disease and injury, as UMass Chan scientists undertake research to discover the causes of and cures for the most devastating diseases of our time.

Accomplished faculty members include two Nobel Prize winners; a Lasker Award recipient; two members of the National Academy of Sciences; a member of the Royal Society; five Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators; Banting Medal awardees; Pew and Keck scholars; MERIT awardees; a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; cancer research award recipients, and many other winners of scientific accolades.

Today, UMass Chan is proud to be at the forefront of the commonwealth’s life sciences initiative, having received funding in 2007 and 2008 to establish an Advanced Therapeutics Cluster (ATC) on campus. Housed in the Albert Sherman Center, the ATC brings together an interdisciplinary group of research faculty and physician-scientists in three interconnected research clusters—stem cell biology, RNA biology and gene therapy. RNA studies at UMass Chan are conducted by world leaders in the field; to direct gene therapy initiatives, UMass Chan recruited an internationally recognized researcher in 2008.