5 The College System, Foundations of Clinical Medicine (FCM), and Student Mentoring

The University of Washington School of Medicine is committed to delivering a personalized medical education that nurtures fundamental clinical skills and fosters lifelong professionalism. At the heart of this approach lies the Colleges System. This structure facilitates a tailored educational experience while imparting a deep understanding of clinical skills and professionalism.

The Colleges System has several primary objectives:

1. Overseeing a four-year integrated curriculum of clinical skills and professionalism
2. Delivering the Foundations of Clinical Medicine course
3. Offering consistent faculty coaching/mentoring

Upon matriculation, Spokane students are assigned either Palouse or Selkirk college. Each college is made up of 30 students. These Colleges are further subdivided into smaller groups of 4 to 5 students. Each smaller group is led by a College faculty mentor, typically a teaching physician. They work closely with the students throughout their entire medical school journey. College faculty coach/mentors provide longitudinal clinical teaching, as well as coaching and mentorship. This relationship is at the core of what the colleges do.

Foundations of Clinical Medicine (FCM)

FCM is a longitudinal course that spans from Term I through Term III. Content is delivered primarily by the College Faculty mentors within the mentor-student small groups. Topics covered include: fundamental clinical skills, history taking, physical examination, diagnosis, clinical reasoning, and the utilization of informatics. There are 4 core components to how and when this material is presented in FCM. These components include Immersion, workshops, College Tutorials, and clinical experience with a primary care provider in the community (PCP).  Each component has its own structure and requirements. For a brief slide presentation about the components of FCM and how it is taught, click here: FCM overview 2023.pptx  Note that as longitudinal mentors and coaches, College faculty do not engage in evaluation or grading; all of their feedback is formative.

Mentoring and Professional Development

In addition to clinical teaching as a part of FCM, college faculty collaborate with their student to support completion of all of the required components of the curriculum. This often includes academic and career counseling (in partnership with our colleagues in Student Affairs and individual departments), and other life situations as they arise. College Heads and College faculty have access to the academic files of their mentees, and receive copies of letters sent to their students regarding their academic progress and any modifications in their academic plans.

Students also join their College faculty and fellow students for reflections and conversations around personal and professional identity formation. This often includes Colleges dinners and/or community gatherings, peer advising events to encourage support across medical school classes, and more. Meeting in the same small groups, both in and outside the classroom, is intentional. The Colleges program aims to build trusting, supportive, relationship-centered teams in which each person can experience being known as a unique individual, a sense of meaningful belonging, and an environment that contributes to the growth, flourishing, and success of each of our students.

The mentor-mentee relationship does not end at the conclusion of FCM. These relationships persist to provide a mentoring and coaching relationship between College faculty and students throughout medical school.