SUNY - University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

UB's goal is to prepare its graduates to enter and complete graduate medical education, to qualify for licensure, to provide competent medical care and to have the educational background necessary for continued learning. The School's curriculum is designed to provide a general medical professional education that permits students to learn the fundamental principles of medicine, to acquire skills of critical judgment based on education and experience and to develop an ability to use principles and skills wisely in solving problems of health and disease. Emphasis is placed on the student's ability to learn through self-directed, independent study throughout their professional lives. We provide a broad-based clinical education in both ambulatory and hospital settings with a strong core curriculum in primary care and an exposure to all the specialties.

Grounding you in the sciences fundamental to medicine, our organ-based curriculum emphasizes self-directed learning and trains you to think critically and solve problems individually or as a team—skills you’ll call on throughout your professional life to make informed decisions for your patients. During your first year at UB, you’ll learn many of the core concepts that form the scientific basis of medicine. Our basic sciences faculty teach our foundation courses in a lecture format, though occasionally you will work with your classmates in small groups. During the second semester of your first year, and throughout your second year, you’ll learn about organs and functional systems of the body in clinical context. These interdisciplinary modules integrate the basic molecular, cellular and organ system processes with mechanisms of disease.

In your third year of medical school, your education and training takes place primarily in our affiliated hospitals, where you will provide care in a variety of settings to patients across the socioeconomic spectrum. Your fourth year consists largely of electives. This arrangement individualizes your training as you continue sampling possible career choices, refining your clinical skills and preparing for residency. With the guidance of a faculty adviser, you will choose from our 200-plus offerings in such diverse specialties as anesthesiology, radiation oncology and neurosurgery.

Unlike many other medical schools, the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences does not own or operate its own hospital facility or clinical practice site. Rather, it has organized a consortium of affiliated hospitals offering a wide range of clinical experiences and training opportunities. This provides a unique opportunity to provide a broad-based learning environment. Our affiliated institutions include: Kaleida Health (Buffalo General Hospital, The Children's Hospital of Buffalo, DeGraff Memorial Hospital, Millard Fillmore Gates Circle Hospital and Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital), Erie County Medical Center, Sister's Hospital, Buffalo VA Hospital, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute and the Buffalo Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics Center for Computational Research.