The DMS medical curriculum aligns with the six (6) core competency domains of standard medical professions to build on the physician assistant training and medical model.
Competency Domains
- Medical Knowledge: Medical Providers must demonstrate the ability to master clinical foundational science and apply it to patient evaluation and decision-making. Critical thinking is necessary to assimilate patient care data and develop appropriate management plans. The Medical Provider must be able to:
- Apply current medical science to patient care;
- Recognize the presentation of common medical disease;
- Discover normal and abnormal patient data using conventional evaluative methods;
- Develop plans for wellness and health improvement/management.
- Interpersonal and Communication Skills: Medical providers must be able to effectively communicate with patients, families, and caregivers for the appropriate exchange of information to promote health and wellness by:
- Establishing rapport using both verbal and non-verbal communication;
- Effectively eliciting and providing health-related information;
- Showing authentic compassion without compromising therapeutic and ethical principles;
- Creating accurate and legible patient care documentation.
- Patient Care: The assessment and management of patients must be safe, effective, quality, and acceptable by:
- Establishing and maintaining patient autonomy; being willing to remove oneself from patient care in the event of a personal conflict with this autonomy;
- Utilizing appropriate time and skills to obtain accurate and appropriate medical information;
- Daily pursuing the art of clinical judgment;
- Utilizing appropriate time and skills to establish and implement care plans;
- Perform appropriate medical and surgical procedures as part of the patient care plan;
- Promoting education, disease prevention, and health maintenance;
- Using technology, where appropriate, to support patient care decisions and education.
- Professionalism: Professionalism is the conscious and subconscious embodiment of behaviors that demonstrate an attitude of servitude, selflessness, and respect. Clinicians must wholly represent themselves as professionals by:
- Committing to abide by legal and regulatory requirements;
- Interacting with patients, families, and the healthcare team in a manner that promotes the value and respect of each individual;
- Holding oneself accountable to patients and society while committing to remain teachable in all circumstances;
- Committing to on-going professional development;
- Committing to ethical principles and adhering to judicial judgment when confronted with conflicts of interest in patient care and the business of healthcare;
- Leading by exemplary personal health behaviors and life decisions.
- Practice-Based Learning and Improvement: Clinicians should always seek to improve their patient care and patient care practices. This is done by:
- Committing to continually review practice patterns and behaviors in an effort to improve cost, quality, and access for the patients;
- Staying abreast of current medical literature and scientific updates and applying it where appropriate to patient care and practice;
- Where appropriate, utilize technology for improved cost, quality, and access for the patients;
- Commit to lifelong learning.
- Systems-Based Practice: Systems-based practice is the successful integration of one’s practice within the larger health care system. The system is improved when clinicians:
- Have a solid understanding of the system’s delivery and funding mechanisms;
- Intentionally provide and advocate for cost-effective, safe health care without compromise in the quality of care;
- Assume the responsibility of being part of the solution to easing the difficulty of navigating the system;
- Collaborate with other health care providers to deliver effectively, quality health care;
- Recognize areas of one’s practice that attribute to a decrease in patient access.