A First-Year Medical School Course Integrating Development, Structure, and Function

At the University of Massachusetts Medical School, anatomy, development, histology, and physiology teaching were integrated into a single first-year course where students study development, structure, and function in a context of clinical imaging. Although the integrated course comprised a 25 % reduction in teaching time, student course performance and USMLE Step I scores have remained strong since curricular integration and student satisfaction with teaching of these basic science disciplines in an interdisciplinary format is high.