The concept of cognitive integration emphasizes the value of explicitly connecting foundational science with patient care and is an accepted pedagogy in undergraduate medical education. Evidence suggests that establishing relationships between foundational science and patient care results in student improvement in diagnostic and clinical reasoning skills. This is achieved by enhancing students' ability to learn and retain new information, relating new learning to past information, and demonstrating flexible problem-solving abilities. These abilities are key skills of adaptive expertise and are thought to represent excellence in clinical performance. As a result, many medical schools have sought to better integrate foundational science and patient care throughout their educational programs.

This focus session will explore the evidence supporting foundational science and patient care integration and how institutions have revised curricula to support integration. This focus session will provide practical information and a framework that participants can use to strengthen and/or optimize foundational science and patient care integration at their own institution. After completing this focus session, participants will be able to:
1. Describe the rationale for integrating foundational science and patient care in health professions education.
2. Discuss the use of several educational strategies for achieving foundational science integration in the pre- and post-clerkship curricula.
3. Outline an approach to revising their own curriculum to best integrate foundational science and patient care