Curriculum
Alice L. Walton School of Medicine’s ARCHES curriculum features six threads longitudinally integrated into courses, clerkships, and electives throughout a four-year MD program that enhances conventional medical education with a whole-person approach to care.
Through the ARCHES curriculum, students learn the fundamentals of medical education through a different lens. The curriculum takes an inclusive and collaborative approach to care that promotes resilience, preventing disease, and restoring health. From observations in art galleries to experiences in the clinic and immersive simulation activities, AWSOM students are prepared to solve the health care problems of the 21st century.
Better care begins with empathy and communication. The Art of Healing emphasizes curiosity, care, connection, and creativity through sustained engagement with the health humanities. Through the arts and humanities, students examine professionalism, professional identity formation, ethical reasoning, tolerance of uncertainty, communication, empathy, perspective taking, resilience, and cultural dimensions of healing. The course fosters reflective practice and humanistic clinical judgment while supporting students’ development as physicians. Learning extends beyond the classroom through service learning and community partnerships, including collaborations across the Crystal Bridges Campus.
Curriculum Phases & Courses
Read the full catalog of ARCHES courses on our Curriculum Phases & Courses page.
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Curriculum Map
Take a closer look at how the ARCHES curriculum is integrated across our four-year MD program.
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