Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
The humanities and medicine The Health Equity Group (HEG) at Geisinger Commonwealth has recommended a new book as the required summer reading for incoming students. Black Man in a White Coat by Damon Tweedy, MD, is described by Kirkus Reviews as “an arresting memoir that personalizes the enduring racial divide in contemporary American medicine.... In this unsparingly honest chronicle, Tweedy cohesively illuminates the experiences of black doctors and black patients and reiterates the need for improved understanding of racial differences within global medical communities.” As the new academic year begins, the book supplies the basis of small group discussions for both first- and second-year students, led by our faculty members of
HEG. The book examines the complex ways in which both Black doctors and patients must navigate the difficult and often contradictory terrain of race and medicine. Through his own and his patients’ stories, Dr. Tweedy illustrates the complex social, cultural and economic factors at the root of many health problems in the Black community. As the New York Times writes, “In this powerful, moving, and deeply empathic book, Tweedy explores the challenges confronting black doctors, and the disproportionate health burdens faced by black patients, ultimately seeking a way forward to better treatment and more compassionate care.” Dr. Damon Tweedy is a graduate of Duke Medical School and Yale Law School. He is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center and staff physician at the Durham VA Medical Center.
Year 1 curriculum Students spend their first two years primarily in Geisinger Commonwealth’s North Campus location, studying basic sciences and learning clinical skills. Courses are designed to address the interface of patient, physician and society, and introduce clinical thinking and decision-making in today’s socioeconomic and cultural environment. During first year, the focus is gaining a core understanding of the structure and function of the human body.
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Course
Topic
Case-Based Learning 1 (CBL1)
CBL1 prepares students for clinical practice by linking classroom-based knowledge to clinical practice through the discussion of clinical case studies.
Community Health Improvement and Promotion (CHIP)
The goal of CHIP is to give students the opportunity to learn about the principles, methods and complexities involved in community health/public health interventions through active participation in group projects.
Foundation of Systems (FoS)
FoS covers biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, medical genetics, physiology, clinical anatomy and radiology, histology, immunology, microbiology, pathology, embryology and pharmacology.
Physician and Patient-Centered Care (PPCC1)
PPCC1 is a year-long course that assists students and one another to connect to humanity and humanism — our own as well as that of our peers and those who will benefit from our professional skills, knowledge and presence.
Physician and Society (PAS)
The goal in PAS is to illustrate the need for and the benefits from collaborative approaches and efforts for advancements in health, health policies and clinical practices among the fields of clinical medicine, research epidemiology, biostatistics and public health.
Neuroscience
The instructional material is presented in a multidisciplinary format to foster the integration of the basic disciplines of neuroanatomy, biochemisty, histology, immunology, microbiology, pathology, pharmacology and physiology.
