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Programs Offered

DEGREE-GRANTING PROGRAMS (descriptions below)

The mission of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine Vista Curriculum is to develop a contemporary and innovative curriculum that promotes curiosity and inquiry, empowers learners and enables future physician leaders to equitably and expertly care for diverse patient populations.

The curriculum is designed to:

Attract and support a diverse student body
Develop expertise and application of biomedical, clinical and health system sciences
Foster commitment to service and advocacy for patients and populations
Apply modern educational practices and engaged pedagogy
Promote collaboration with peers, interprofessional colleagues and faculty
Address the impact of social determinants of health, racism and bias on healthcare access and delivery
Leverage technology to improve learning and the care of patients and populations
Stimulate self-directed and self-informed learning and professional identity formation
Anticipate and adapt smoothly with the evolution of medicine and healthcare
Nurture innovation, scholarship and discovery in our learning environment

Regional Campus Tracks

Vista Pathways Program

The Pathway Program provides a structure that aligns skills of inquiry and critical thinking with self-directed learning longitudinally.  It links to student experiences in foundational curriculum, service learning, research and clinical care throughout enrollment. The vision is forward-looking with emerging trends and needs in healthcare and health education.

In the new curriculum, each student would be exposed to foundational principles, content and skills that apply to all Pathways and an introduction to each individual Pathway in the fall of their first year, select a Pathway in the spring and participate in related sessions through their enrollment culminating in the completion and presentation of a scholarly project.  

Dedicated time is identified for curriculum across all 4 years in core foundational areas (for all learners), common or overlapping areas (for learners across several pathways) and areas unique or specific to each pathway.

Additional Optional Pathways (Vista requires participation in a pathway and offers)

The T.H. Chan School of Medicine offers three additional school-sponsored, application-based structured student pathways for students with interest in developing particular skills in global health, serving the underserved and clinical and translational research. These pathways do not provide additional degrees, but do have structured curricula and requirements for successful completion. Notation is made on the transcripts and in the medical school performance evaluation (MSPE) of students who successfully complete all requirements.

Degree Granting

MD Program

The UMass Chan Medical School's MD program pledges to provide students with a comprehensive and personally rewarding medical education. We aim to prepare our graduates to be caring, competent, and productive physicians serving a diversity of patients and communities. Whether a student plans to practice in primary care or pursue subspecialty training, the four-year educational program at UMass Chan Medical School is designed to develop the foundational competencies required of all physicians. Our Learner-centered Integrated Curriculum (LInC) supports our vision that our graduates will excel in patient care, innovation, discovery leadership and service. The LInC is founded on our six core competencies, collaboratively developed by our students and faculty – physician as clinical problem solver, communicator, patient and community advocate, person, professional and scientist. Most students complete the MD degree in four years, though there are opportunities for extension for personal and professional development. Our clinical sites span the commonwealth with students rotating at our major clinical partners, UMass Memorial Medical Center as well as community-based educational partners from Cape Cod to the Berkshires. Ambulatory preceptors are equally diverse and include multispecialty community-based providers, hospital-affiliated clinics, federally qualified health centers and private providers. This diversity of sites for clinical learning supports student learning, professional development and career decision-making.

For more information on program requirements, click here.

MD/PhD Program

The Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) funded MD/PhD program offers exceptional training opportunities for those interested in pursuing careers as physician/scientists. The program combines the curriculum of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine and the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences to provide a structured foundation of diverse topics, with the flexibility necessary to meet the needs of the individual student.

The goal of the MD/PhD program is to provide highly motivated students the opportunities to develop skills and experience in biomedical investigation and the practice of medicine. This is a rigorous and challenging program, and upon successful completion the student is awarded both the PhD in biomedical sciences and the MD. We train physician-scientists who will make significant contributions to health care and who will become the leaders of academic medicine.

In addition to the traditional biomedical sciences research training, our Medical Scientist Training Program offers a clinical/population based PhD degree for students interested in clinical research. The Clinical and Population Health Research Program offers our students an opportunity to become leaders in clinical and translational research by training them in areas including epidemiology, outcomes research, determinants of disease and biostatistics. It also addresses the national need for health research to move from the laboratory to the individual patient and health care systems.

For more information on program requirements, click here.

Track and Optional Pathways

Population-based Urban and Rural Community Health (PURCH) Track

The Population-based Urban and Rural Community Health (PURCH) Track is an innovative, immersive education experience that prepares medical students to practice successfully in the post-healthcare reform world by training them to manage the health of both individuals and populations.

It teaches patient-centered, team-based care that is integrated within the community.

You will learn about population health concepts, and have ample opportunity to apply them in diverse inpatient and outpatient clinical settings with largely underserved urban and rural communities.

Students will participate in courses at both the UMass Chan campus in Worcester and our new UMass Chan-Baystate regional campus in Springfield, MA.

Baystate Health is one of the largest health systems in New England. It has a mission of serving the underserved in both inner city and rural areas of western Massachusetts, providing care for a remarkable diversity of patients and medical conditions.

Baystate has been involved in medical education for more than a century, and is a nationally recognized leader in educational innovation. You will have opportunities to train in a wide range of inpatient and outpatient clinical settings within Baystate’s integrated academic health system - from Baystate Medical Center, a large full-service teaching hospital, to smaller neighborhood primary care and specialty clinics.

Get more information about PURCH and how to apply

Clinical Translational Research Pathway

The Clinical and Translational Pathway (CTRP) is a selective program that provides advanced opportunities for students to further their skills in basic, clinical or translational research in parallel with the traditional medical school curriculum. It is designed for students enrolled in the UMass Chan MD degree-granting program who wish to contribute to the development of evidence-based approaches to improve clinical care, and to translate discoveries in basic science to clinical practice throughout their career. Students accepted into this program complete longitudinal coursework throughout their T.H. Chan School of Medicine enrollment and finalize their experience with a Senior Scholars Project. The CTRP program offers the opportunity for an additional year to complete a master's degree in clinical investigation through the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

For more information on program requirements, click here.

Global Health Pathway

The Global Health Pathway (GHP) is an elective, four-year program that trains and supports medical students to be future leaders in global health. The GHP selects medical students through an application process at the start of their medical school training and provides them with longitudinal curriculum and opportunities to gain experience in clinical, research, public health and cultural experiences with underserved populations in two major categories: those currently living outside of the United States or those that are living inside the United States with recent international origins, such as immigrant or refugee populations.

For more information on program requirements, click here.

Rural Health Scholars Pathway

The goal of this pathway is to foster students' interest in and desire to learn about issues related to practicing in rural and small town communities as well as to help them develop contacts with rural health clinicians and leaders while learning skills useful to rural and small town practice.

To learn more about this pathway, click here.