Space MED Program Program Overview Curriculum & Training How to Apply Leadership Contact Us Curriculum & Training Home Education Medical Education Space MED Program Space MED Program > Curriculum & Training Training in Space Medicine The Space MED program's curriculum and training are designed to augment students' primary medical education with a foundation of technical knowledge, procedural capabilities and interdisciplinary communication skills. It includes synchronous and asynchronous modules that will align thematically with topics in the existing medical school curriculum. By the completion of this program, medical students will have a robust understanding of space environment and physiology, be introduced to space medicine clinical and procedural core competencies, gain exposure to operational space medicine, and learn about risk management, systems engineering, human systems integration and design. It is meant to serve as an introduction to knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) that will be critical for assisting in the care of spaceflight personnel, and the risk assessment, design, and refinement of spacecraft and human spaceflight systems. Curriculum Goal To increase education in the field of space medicine so graduates can identify unmet clinical needs, develop solutions and provide the clinical perspective necessary to ensure safe travel in space for all. Curriculum Overview The program's blended learning approach combines online asynchronous materials and reflections with synchronous discussions and hands-on activities. In-person sessions include didactics, skills sessions and operational experience with the commercial spaceflight industry. MS1 Summer pre-matriculation immersion elective Synchronous monthly lectures (eight months from January to August) Summer Impression: Commercial flight rotation and two weeks shadowing a Space Medicine fellow Tentative capstone project question submitted by the beginning of MS2 year MS2 Advanced topical synchronous monthly lectures (eight months from September to May) Clinical experiences Service-learning project MS3 Quarterly synchronous meetings Two-week clinical rotation at SpaceX or VAST Space with a Space Medicine fellow Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) #1 – Communication Delay MS4 Four-week clinical rotation with a Space Medicine fellow at VAST and/or SpaceX, with an opportunity to also rotate at NASA for one week OSCE #2 – Launch and Landing Support Capstone presentation due April of MS4 year Curricular Objectives & Educational Methods 1: Define Engineering Language, Data Gathering & Design Processes Define the language, data gathering techniques, and design processes common to engineering and negotiate requirements and systems trades. Education Strategy: Faculty-generated didactics Selected readings Team-based learning in multidisciplinary teams discussing simulated or real clinical scenarios On-site learning with commercial spaceflight partners 2: Understand Spaceflight Medicine Limitations & Medical Risk Mitigation Compare and contrast the diagnostic and therapeutic limitations of spaceflight medical systems and how these relate to tradespace analysis and medical risk mitigation. Education Strategy: Faculty-generated didactics Selected readings Team-based learning in multidisciplinary teams discussing simulated or real clinical scenarios 3: Recognize Constraints in Space & How They Relate to Patient Management Recognize the physiological changes, environmental factors, and design constraints present in space and ramifications for patient management. Education Strategy: Faculty-generated didactics Selected readings Team-based learning in multidisciplinary teams discussing simulated or real clinical scenarios 4: Distinguish Human Health Changes in Space & How They Present Distinguish normal adaptive responses from pathology and understand how the spaceflight environment affects the presentation of undifferentiated illness. Education Strategy: Faculty-generated didactics Selected readings Team-based learning in multidisciplinary teams discussing simulated or real clinical scenarios 5: Carry out Preventative Medicine Measures to Mitigate Risk Appraise the importance of health maintenance and preventative medicine and how these relate to pre-flight screening and mission risk mitigation for a specific patient. Education Strategy: Faculty-generated didactics Selected readings Team-based learning in multidisciplinary teams discussing simulated or real clinical scenarios 6: Perform Medical Assessment & Treatment For Pre-flight Training, Launch, Flight & Recovery Perform a primary assessment and hypothesize appropriate steps to stabilize and treat patients during pre-flight training, launch, flight and recovery. Education Strategy: Faculty-generated didactics Selected readings Standardized-patient interviews 7: Execute Remote Medical Exams in Spaceflight Environments Perform a history and physical exam and an understanding for salient differences in the performance of these skills as they relate to spaceflight — especially when utilizing telemedicine with communication delay. Education Strategy: Faculty-generated didactics Selected readings Standardized-patient interviews and exams 8: Gain Knowledge on Spaceflight Environment & Physiology, Systems Engineering & Design Gain introductory knowledge of spaceflight environment and physiology, operational space medicine, spaceflight-related morbidity and terrestrial morbidity in space, systems engineering, human systems integration, and design. Education Strategy: Faculty-generated didactics Selected readings Team-based learning in multidisciplinary teams discussing simulated or real clinical scenarios 9: Discuss Ethical Concerns Unique to Spaceflight Discuss the professionalism and ethical concerns unique to spaceflight as they relate to protected health information, patient autonomy and healthcare power of attorney. Education Strategy: Faculty-generated didactics Selected readings Team-based learning in multidisciplinary teams discussing simulated or real clinical scenarios