Preparing tomorrow’s physicians

Mission: The mission of Avalon University School of Medicine is to prepare competent physicians who can serve communities locally and around the world. Avalon graduates are committed to patient safety and public health while maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and ethical behavior required for medical practice.

Dean’s vision: Avalon Graduates are expected to be fit to practice medicine rather than just to be fit to pass assessments or examinations.

Core values of AUSOM:

  • Education
  • Empathy
  • Integrity
  • Respect
  • Commitment

Strategic Plan Priorities of Avalon University School of Medicine 2022-2024

CORE VALUES

Education
  1. Ongoing evaluation and restructuring of the curriculum to prepare students to be leaders and to practice medicine locally and around the globe
  2. Develop and support the infrastructure and educational resources for the entire medical program
  3. The continuing expansion of hospital affiliations to ensure our continued ability to train well-balanced, competent physicians
  4. Optimize student recruitment and admission practices and programs to prepare well-balanced, competent physicians
  5. Evolve new models of medical education and training that are competency- based and career-focused
  6. Build bridges between basic science and clinical education to support the medical program
  7. Enhance educational resources and processes that encourage critical thinking, communication skills, self-directed learning, and scholarly achievement
  8. Continuous improvement of education and training offered to prepare well- balanced, competent physicians who are committed to patient safety and public health
Clinical Training
  1. Maintain a network of clinical training sites with sufficient capacity to provide a high-quality educational experience with experiential learning that will prepare our students for a successful, life-long practice in medicine
  2. Establish strong and clear affiliation agreements to ensure that there is appropriate oversight of both the physical facilities and student rotations
  3. Maintain appropriate academic leaders for each key clinical training facility/teaching network
  4. Build effective relationships with key personnel at each site to ensure that local staff is aware of educational objectives, curriculum developments and have an opportunity to participate fully in educational activities.
  5. Annual clinical site inspections that allow quality assurance of clinical training and evaluation of the learning environment to facilitate ongoing dialogue between the site, the preceptors and the Medical School
  6. Track all clinical rotations so that faculty, staff and students have a better appreciation of the contribution of each training site to our clinical program.
Faculty & Administrative Staff
  1. Ongoing recruitment of qualified faculty and staff to achieve our mission
  2. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) of faculty through training, promotional support, mentoring and other developmental activities
  3. Enable data-driven management by systematically tracking performance at both the course level and the individual level
  4. Maintain an equitable faculty workload across all departments to optimize faculty retention and productivity
  5. Continue to utilize faculty performance and evaluations to provide appropriate recognition
  6. Maintain the conditions to help faculty succeed, both institutionally and individually
  7. Promote a culture of collaboration across the disciplines, including faculty and administrative staff
Research
  1. Continue to streamline the organization and management of the research infrastructure to meet the future needs of the medical school, faculty and community
  2. Continue team-based biomedical and clinical research
  3. Foster the growth of an interactive, engaged, and research-intensive faculty in the school of medicine

Measurable Outcomes/Success Indicators

Education
Short-term and medium-term outcomes:

  • Admission statistics including GPA
  • Merit-based scholarships offered
  • Course evaluations/clerkship evaluations
  • Program surveys by all basic sciences and clinical students
  • Students’ performance in internal assessments of basic sciences
  • NBME results (comprehensive basic science & clinical science exams)
  • Number of medical education presentations (educational innovations) done at national and international conferences
  • Total number of medical education publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Long-term outcomes:

  • USMLE Step 1 pass rates
  • Graduation rates
  • Graduates’ questionnaire survey
  • Residency matching rates
  • Students’ performance on board exams other than USMLEs
  • Graduates’ performance in post-graduation

Clinical Training

Short-term and medium-term outcomes:

  • Comparison of students’ performance in clinical rotations (both physicians’ assessment and NBME-shelf exams) across clinical sites
  • Performance of students on OSCE examinations and comparison across clinical sites.

Long-term outcomes:

  • USMLE Step 2CK pass rates
  • Comparison of USMLE Step 2CK pass rates across clinical sites.
  • Students’ performance on board exams other than Step 2 CK.

Faculty & Administrative Staff

Short-term and medium-term outcomes:

  • Faculty satisfaction surveys
  • Number of extra-curricular activities to improve faculty engagement
  • Number of community engagement activities
  • Total number of faculty development activities in teaching, assessment, and research methods.

Long-term outcomes:

  • Faculty satisfaction rates
  • Retention of a diverse faculty

Research
Short-term and medium-term outcomes:

  • Number of grants submitted
  • Number of manuscripts submitted to peer-reviewed journals
  • Total number of research training workshops conducted to faculty members
  • Number of publications in peer-reviewed journals
  • Number of disseminations of scholarly work at national conferences and international conferences

Long-term outcomes:

  • Total number of citations bibliometrics (Scopus, research gate, and Web of Science)
  • Number of grants awarded
  • Total number of dollars awarded as grants