Assessment Philosophy
Student assessment in the WR2 Curriculum is designed to accomplish the following:
- facilitate the types of learning and inquiry that are goals for the WR2 Curriculum;
- ascertain whether students attain the level of mastery necessary for graduation from Case; and
- prepare students for the Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) USMLE exams.
These three goals are accomplished through multiple different assessment methods.
Independent study and inquiry are hallmarks of WR2 through assessment strategies that are formative and summative, focus on the synthesis of concepts, and promote student responsibility for the mastery of skills and material.
The WR2 Curriculum has a limited number of classroom hours, but expects that students will engage in self-directed learning outside the classroom to master the curriculum's learning objectives. The content of WR2, organized across biological systems, provides students with an integrated view of medicine and health and a clearer understanding of how the basic sciences and clinical practice relate to one another. The flexibility of WR2 permits students to explore in depth an area of interest to them alongside a mentor. The curriculum's focus on the social and behavioral context of health and disease as well as on population medicine prepares students for the challenges of today's health care system.