The Emphasis Program

Vanderbilt School of Medicine Vanderbilt University School of Medicine is committed to training future leaders and scholars in medicine. Its graduates must be prepared to address the current and future challenges in the field of medicine.

Among the general objectives of the curriculum for the School of Medicine are for students to:

• Make a commitment to practice medicine in a scholarly manner, based on an understanding of the need to engage in lifelong learning.
• Acquire the capacity to recognize and accept limitations in their knowledge and clinical skills.
• Acknowledge and rectify personal shortcomings that may result from these limitations; the skills of self-reflection and self-assessment are critical to achieving these objectives.

The intent of the Emphasis Program is to provide students during the first two years of medical school with the opportunity to acquire specialized knowledge and experience by working in one of nine focus areas:(see "Emphasis Areas")

• Biomedical Informatics
• Community Health Initiatives and Health Outreach
• Education
• Healthcare and Public Health Research and Management
• International Health
• Laboratory-Based Biomedical Research
• Law
• Medical Humanities
• Patient-Oriented Research

This in-depth experience will help prepare them with skills to serve as effective effective scholars and leaders as they pursue their professional careers. The mentored experience of the Emphasis Program will provide students with a special opportunity to acquire and practice these skills, with accessible faculty mentors providing guidance in this effort.

The relationship the student establishes with a faculty mentor is therefore vital to successful completion of the Emphasis Program. To ensure that the match between mentor and student is appropriate and that completion of the student’s desired project is feasible, the Emphasis Program Planning Committee has developed this document to summarize the stages involved in the Emphasis Program, and to clarify expectations, roles and responsibilities for the mentor-student relationship.