Credit/Contact Hours
Medical students at Indiana University are to receive an equivalent medial education independent of the Center for Medical Education that they attend. Implicit in this goal, is the assumption that, in the statewide system of medical education, each discipline should have the same number of credits assigned to it.
After the first two years of the medical school curriculum, all students will have 80 credits of course work.
Each discipline will have a targeted number of credits (see table below) assigned to it.
The distribution of a discipline’s credit hours among courses will be determined by the particular educational center.
The variation in credits hours in a given discipline should be less than 10% of the targeted credit hours. In those instances when a particular discipline at a given center exceeds the recommended target, a written justification by the Center Director and the chairman of the appropriate Indianapolis department must be sent to the Curriculum Council for approval.
The assignment of credit hours to a particular course will follow the procedures currently used by the School of Medicine, which were adopted by the former Education and Curriculum Committee. 15 hours of lecture/semester equals 1 credit hour; 30 hours of small group activity/semester equals 1 credit hour.
Target Credit Hours
| Biochemistry | 6 |
| Biostatistics | 1 |
| General Pathology | 6 |
| Gross Anatomy | 7 |
| Histology | 5 |
| ICM I | 3 |
| ICM II | 21 |
| Medical Genetics | 2 |
| Microbiology | 6 |
| Neuroscience | 5 |
| Pharmacology | 6 |
| Physiology | 7 |
| Systemic Pathology | 5 |
Contact Hour Definitions
Lecture—Traditional didactic discourse presented to an entire class
Lab—Practical learning experiences in specially equipped facilities. Characterized by the students performing some activity designed to enhance understanding or knowledge of a particular topic, with the goal of student demonstration of an appropriate skill (i.e. a Biochemistry experiment, a dissection, or practice history and physical exam on another student).
Clinical—Curricular experience that includes direct patient contact and/or related clinical responsibilities (i.e. history and physical, writing orders, writing daily progress notes, patient related communications, etc.)
Small Group (PBL/TBL)—A learning experience whereby students work on a problem/case as part of a small group. Each student is expected to actively contribute to the learning process.
Computer Assisted Learning—Required learning experiences that are only available via computer.
Exam—Scheduled examinations and quizzes
Other—Any form of instruction (including review sessions) that are not listed above
