The UCSF 49
Overview
The UCSF School of Medicine’s curricular framework—The UCSF 49—was designed to educate Bridges Students on the most common diseases and syndromes impacting communities in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Through The UCSF 49, this work further illustrates the School’s commitment to public service, social and health care equity, and community engagement, and reflects the values of the very best practicing physicians: compassionate, accountable, and expert.
The UCSF 49 contribute to a “Uniquely UCSF” medical education: how our students learn, their habits of mind, and the competencies they will bring to the next phase of professional development.
What Are The UCSF 49?
The UCSF 49 download pdf fileare a group of core syndromes and disorders that will anchor UCSF medical students' journey through the Bridges Curriculum. While aspects of the Bridges Curriculum will drive students to the dynamic frontiers of medical knowledge, The UCSF 49 help serve as curricular guideposts. The syndromes and disorders that comprise The UCSF 49 are clustered into related clinical conditions. Organized in this way, The UCSF 49 will help students build robust neural networks for clinical decision making, which requires comparing and contrasting similar clinical presentations.
Glossary of Terms
Category: The broad topic area of health in which the cluster falls into.
Cluster: The UCSF 49 are the identified 49 clusters of diagnoses/syndromes that our graduates will be able to recognize, treat, or act upon appropriately as indicated in the table.
Diagnosis/Syndrome: The more specific diagnosis or syndrome within the identified cluster that students must be able to address or take action in at least one of the ways described below.
Clinical Actions: In the six areas noted in The UCSF 49 download pdf file, the accompanying descriptions identify a level of clinical action. The configuration of “x” marks in the category columns indicate graduating UCSF students’ expected competence for each diagnosis or syndrome. Arrows beside an “x” and spanning adjacent cells indicate the expectation of a continuum of competence. For cells lacking an “x,” either the activity is not applicable or the activity is considered more advanced than that expected of a graduating medical student. As a reminder, please refer to the Bridges Curriculum MD Competency Milestones.
1. Triage and Resuscitate (applied on the cluster level): Recognizes and communicates condition, including presence of red-flag symptoms/signs. Describes appropriate stabilizing interventions and monitoring.
2. Prevent and Screening: Describes and orders evidence-based screening recommendations; outlines characteristics of individuals needing a different screening approach based on epidemiology/exposure/family history that conveys higher risk; interprets results of screening tests and initiates timely referral to the appropriate specialist.
3. Recognize and Describe: For symptom or syndrome, identifies red-flags of presentation and triage. Describes the classic illness script (epidemiology, time course, signs, symptoms, and underlying disease mechanisms) for the three most prevalent causes of the symptom/syndrome plus the most emergent cause. For a disease, describes the illness script.
4. Diagnose: In addition to recognizing and describing (above), outlines diagnostic criteria, if applicable. Orders and interprets appropriate diagnostic tests (lab and imaging) based on pretest probability and characteristics of the diagnostic test.
5. Manage: Describes evidence-based management strategies. Describes criteria for therapeutic success; describes and monitors side effects. Recognizes epidemiologic factors, comorbidities, and medications that pose risks and require alterations in therapy. Recognizes appropriate timing to consult, specialty to consult, and can construct appropriate consult questions.
6. Consult: Identifies appropriate consultant to assist in management. Communicates in a time frame appropriate to the patient's needs and pace and severity of the disease. Effectively summarizes case and poses an answerable clinical question to the consultant.
