Welcome to the University of Colorado School of Medicine on the Anschutz Medical Campus. A Top Ten Medical School, our departments, centers and institutes work with the University of Colorado Hospital, The Children's Hospital and Barbara Davis Center.

The SOM collects data across all courses and Phases to monitor student performance. Here we provide results on some key outcome data at different points in across the curriculum. For the most part these indicators have national norms for comparative purposes.

At the end of the preclinical years students must take and pass the USMLE Step I board exam.  The percent of Colorado students passing the first time and the class mean equaled or exceeded the national average except for the first group in the new curriculum where both dipped below the national average that year.

Students participate in integrated block or traditional curricula.

Students must take and pass the USMLE Step II Clinical Knowledge and Clinical Skills exams to graduate.  On the CK, the percent of Colorado students passing the first time and the class mean exceeded the national average in all years except for the last year of the traditional clinical core when the class performed at the national average.

Students participate in integrated block or traditional curricula.

The Clinical Skills portion of the exam provides information only on the passing rate. Again the Colorado students performed well on this performance exam with standardized patients.

Students participate in integrated block or traditional curricula.

To address the mission of creating knowledgeable, life-long learners, all medical students are required to complete a Mentored Scholarly Project (MSA). The MSA could be completed in any of a number of thematic areas. The class of 2010, the first to complete the requirement, presented their projects on March 11, 2010. The division of projects by thematic area (CS- Clinical Sciences; BS- Basic Sciences; HSSE- Humanities, Social Science and Education; EPCH- Epidemiology, and Public and Community Health) is shown below:

The quality of each project was rated on 6 dimensions by 2 independent raters. Using the mean of the two ratings, most projects met or exceeded expectations in all areas.

Although student performance while in medical school provides important information for monitoring the curriculum, students’ performance beyond medical school, as they move into the demands of functioning as a physician in their residencies offers another critical perspective on the impact of the school.  At the end of the internship year two types of data are collected. 

First graduates’ performance on the USMLE Step III boards is evaluated.  As seen in the table below, a higher percentage of Colorado students pass this exam than the national average in almost all years.  Data currently available are for students participating in the traditional curriculum.

A second source of outcome data comes from directors of residency programs accepting Colorado graduates. Program directors rate graduates competencies at the end of the internship year in comparison to all interns they have taught. Data for graduates from the first class participating in the integrated curriculum are rated in the top 30% or middle 40% of all interns taught for the most part.

Percentage of Graduates Rated at Each Competency Level, Program Directors Survey, Class of 2009