Biomedical Science and Clinical Foundations

This book teaches medical students basic science and clinical concepts utilizing over 30 cases that cover all major organ systems. Case-based learning has become a core way to teach the application of foundational material in the basic and clinical sciences in the pre-clerkship years. Medical schools’ curriculums tend to be traditional, organ systems-based, or problem-based. There are many discipline-based textbooks for students to use in a traditional approach to medical education. For the organ systems-based approach, there are many books dedicated to each organ system, where clinical relevance is tied in with basic science concepts. In a problem-based curriculum, students use clinical cases to stimulate inquiry, knowledge application, and critical thinking. While there are many books available for faculty to learn how to teach in a problem-based approach, there is a paucity of textbooks that provide the breadth and depth of clinical cases integrated with basic medical sciences. This book serves to fill that gap.

Written when the authors were fourth year medical students and edited by an experienced educator, each case is designed to present the reader with the information they need to know in a direct and accessible format. Cases are organized by organ system. Each case includes learning objectives (clinical and basic science), patient history, detailed physical exam, labs, imaging, test results, treatment, outcomes, and sample board-style exam questions. In addition, each case has an additional objective to approach topics such as ethics, social determinants of health, behavioral health, healthcare transformation, and public health.

This is an ideal resource for first- and second-year medical students to learn these foundational concepts and prepare for USMLE Step 1 and 2 board examinations.