Academic Affairs

The Office of Academic Affairs for the LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine provides leadership and supports the educational and academic missions of the medical school. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs supervises and develops undergraduate medical curriculum which includes the Medical Curriculum Council and the Clinical Skills Center. The office also oversees faculty affairs including academic appointments, promotion and tenure, and faculty development for all members of the general medical faculty.

Goals and Objectives

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS AND COMMUNICATION

Goal: The student must demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that result in the effective exchange of information and collaboration with patients, their families, and health professionals.

The student must demonstrate the ability to create and sustain a therapeutic and ethically sound relationship with patients.
The student must develop and refine interpersonal and communication skills that result in the effective exchange of information and collaboration with patients, their families, and the public, as appropriate, by displaying effective communication across a broad range of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.
The student must exhibit effective communication with physicians, other health professionals and health related agencies and demonstrate the ability to work as a productive member or leader of a health care team or other professional group.
The student must construct and maintain comprehensive, timely, and legible medical records.

MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE

Goal: The student must demonstrate knowledge of the scientific basis of health and disease and be able to apply that knowledge to the practice of medicine.

The student must exhibit knowledge of established and evolving biomedical, clinical, epidemiological, and social/behavioral sciences as well as the application of this knowledge to patient care.
The student must demonstrate the ability to acquire and access new knowledge (i.e., stay- up-to-date with the current literature).
The student must demonstrate the ability to evaluate critically new knowledge and to determine its relevance to clinical problems.

PATIENT CARE

Goal: The student must be able to provide patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective for their level of training and for the treatment of health problems and the promotion of health.

The student must exhibit the ability to take both a focused and a comprehensive history.
The student must demonstrate the ability to perform a thorough physical examination.
The student must display the ability to verbally present clinical information relevant to patient care to clinical supervisors, peers, and other members of the health care team.
The student must be able to correctly perform routine clinical procedures and be knowledgeable about the indications, complications, and limitations of those procedures.
The student must demonstrate appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic management strategies for patients with common issues arising for both acute and chronic care needs.

PRACTICE-BASED LEARNING AND IMPROVEMENT

Goal: The student must demonstrate the ability to investigate and evaluate their care of patients, to appraise and assimilate scientific evidence, and to continuously improve patient care based on constant self-evaluation and life-long learning.

The student must engage in critical reflection to distinguish personal goals and identify opportunities for increased knowledge and development of new skills, behaviors, and perspectives and, as a result of this insight, integrate appropriate learning activities and formative evaluation feedback into daily practice with the goal of performance improvement.
The student must demonstrate the ability to locate, appraise, and assimilate evidence from scientific studies related to their patients’ health problems.
The student must demonstrate the ability to utilize information technology to optimize learning.
The student must participate in the education of patients, families, students, residents, and other health care professionals.

PROFESSIONALISM

Goal: The student must demonstrate a commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities and an adherence to ethical principles.

The student must demonstrate compassion, integrity, and respect for others.
The student must exhibit responsiveness to the needs of patients and society that supersedes self-interest.
The student must show respect for patient privacy and autonomy.
The student must demonstrate accountability to patients, society, and the profession.
The student must display sensitivity and responsiveness to a diverse patient population, including but not limited to diversity in age, sex, culture, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religion and disabilities.

SYSTEM-BASED PRACTICE

Goal: The student must demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and system of health care, as well as an understanding of the methods by which other resources in the system can be called upon to provide optimal health care.

The student must demonstrate an understanding of the way in which patient care is coordinated within the health care system and work effectively in various health care delivery settings and systems.
The student must demonstrate an understanding of the considerations of cost awareness and risk/benefit analysis in patient and/or population-based care as appropriate for level of training.
The student must work effectively in inter-professional teams and demonstrate efforts to enhance patient safety and improve the quality of patient care.
The student will demonstrate efforts to enhance patient safety and improve