About the JMP:
The Joint Medical Program is a 5-year Master of Science/MD Program.  The first three years of the Program are spent on the Berkeley campus, completing the preclinical science curriculum required for MD licensure and elective coursework in support of health-related master's thesis.  A minimum of 20 units is required for the MS degree.  Courses may be selected from any campus department.  The MS degree is offered in Health and Medical Sciences (HMS).

Upon satisfactory completion of the preclinical MD curriculum, elective courses, and thesis, students take the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam, Step I.  Successful students transfer to UCSF where they complete two years of clinical clerkships.  Upon satisfactory completion of this phase of the program students are awarded the MD degree.

Our Mission:
The mission of the UCB-UCSF Joint Medical Program is to train physician-leaders in the human, sociocultural, and bioethical contexts of health and disease.

In pursuing this goal, the Joint Medical Program values and seeks to reflect:

• a commitment to exemplary education in the basic medical sciences

• a focus on cross-disciplinary study in the humanities, social and behavioral sciences and public health

• an investment in education conducted in communities, by community physicians

• a spirit of innovation in the design of medical education curriculum

• an orientation toward cooperative, small group learning

• a responsibility for fostering self-reflective growth among its students, and

• a dedication to nurturing the creative potential inherent within human diversity.

The First Three Years – Berkeley Campus:
The Berkeley curriculum begins in June of each year, with students enrolling full-time in the 8-week summer session.

Medical Curriculum
Our curriculum embodies a full implementation of case-based, problem-oriented learning that integrates the basic and preclinical sciences and fosters an understanding of the biological, social, and moral contexts of human health and disease.

The new curriculum emphasizes collaborative learning focused on illustrative cases, under the supervision of expert tutors who guide and monitor the process.  The case-centered, small group tutorial model integrates all components of the basic sciences with pathophysiology, pharmacology and introductory clinical medicine.

Clinical Skills Curriculum
One-on-one clinical preceptorships with community physicians start in the fall of the first year and continue throughout the three years.  This curricular component encompasses the learning of interviewing skills, doctor-patient communication, physical diagnosis skills and more specific aspects of patient care, including geriatrics, psychiatry, human growth and development, and maternal and child health.

The Last Two Years – San Francisco Campus:
Building on the skills and knowledge developed in the case-based curriculum, Integrated Clinical Studies offers students a range of experiences and opportunities in the fields of medicine.  The School of Medicine has placed new emphasis on connections across disciplines, on thematic learning objectives, and on student-directed discussion that follows clinical experiences.

• Third year core clerkships, the hospital and outpatient experiences will begin earlier, in late April.  The fourth year's Advanced Studies will also begin earlier, to allow for a more complete year of clinical experience and research.

• Clerkships are modular. Each is eight weeks long, and some of them are "blended," bringing together complementary medical specialties.

• Intercessions are weeklong breaks between the clerkships that allow all students to come together for lectures, discussion and reflection.

Please click here to view the complete JMP 2008-2010 brochure.

Additional information is available at the School of Medicine website http://medschool.ucsf.edu/medstudents.