UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
COLLEGE OF MEDICINE AND VETERINARY MEDICINE
MBChB CURRICULUM EXECUTIVE
Note of the meeting of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine MBChB Curriculum
Executive held at 3.00 pm on Tuesday, 2 October 2007 in the Board Room, The
Chancellor’s Building, Little France.
Present:
Dr W A Reid (Convenor)
Prof A D Cumming
Dr H Cameron
Dr F Kristmundsdottir
Dr E Duvall
Dr P Midgley
Dr S C Riley
Dr J Davies
Dr S Maxwell
Mrs M McGill
Ms L K Dalziel
Ms G Allan
Mrs C Tomlinson
Dr Reid welcomed members to the meeting.
1.
APOLOGIES
Apologies were presented by Mr R W Parks, Dr H Rodgers, Dr R Mills, Ms R Stewart and Dr
D Thomson.
2.
MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON 2 JULY 2007
The minutes of the meeting held on 2 July were approved.
Matters arising not considered elsewhere (Action Points – Paper 07/CE/01):
•
Review of Years 3, 4 & 5
Dr Duvall reported that this was pending in view of the forthcoming GMC visit. Professor
Cumming stressed that this issue should not, however, be forgotten.
Matters outstanding from previous minutes:
•
Special Circumstances – Assessment Administration Working Group Paper D
(Paper 07/CE/02)
The above Group, of which Lindsay Dalziel is a member, is considering special
circumstances and, in particular, the matter of whether marks should be changed as a
consequence of special circumstances. Dr Helen Cameron is also writing a paper on the
subject and it was agreed to consider it, together with other papers on special
circumstances, at the next meeting.
Lindsay Dalziel reported that Paper D (draft paper on Special Circumstances) was presented
at the last meeting of the Working Group for discussion. A further meeting of the Group will
be scheduled which will include representatives from each of the Colleges. Lindsay would
ensure a representative from MVM was invited.
Professor Cumming reported that the issue of special circumstances had also been
discussed at SUGSC the previous week where it was agreed the issue should be referred
back to the Assessment Administration Working Group to report back to SUGSC.
It was pointed out that in the MBChB programme Boards of Examiners almost never revised
marks but might allow a student to take an exam as a first sitting. This matter now requires
urgent discussion/agreement and a decision taken to SUGSC.
Dr Cameron would revise her paper in view of this paper and present it to the November
meeting.
3.
NEW DIRECTORS OF STUDIES (Paper 07/CE/03)
New DOSs, as detailed on the circulated paper, were approved.
4.
END-OF-YEAR WEIGHTINGS FOR DISTINCTIONS (Paper 07/CE/04)
The paper was approved. The weightings for each Year would be uploaded to the relevant
Year’s assessment page on EEMeC and this information should also be included in the
Study Guides.
It was agreed that a document on weightings should be presented annually at the equivalent
meeting. Carole Tomlinson to request this information from Year Directors several months
in advance of the meeting.
5.
MERGER OF FIRST AID AND RESUSCITATION AND CLINICAL PROCEDURES
(Paper 07/CE/05)
It was proposed to combine the two CSPPD themes that are currently First Aid and
Resuscitation and Clinical Procedures to form one theme called Clinical and Resuscitation
Skills. It was felt that this was a sensible rationalisation and the direction of these elements
would not change.
The proposal was approved.
6.
PRINCIPLES AND PRECEPTS OF ASSESSMENT (Paper 07/CE/06)
There was support for the document, written by Dr Helen Cameron, but several
suggestions/revisions were raised, particularly in respect of points 5, 14, 15, 19, 22 and 29.
Dr Cameron undertook to incorporate these suggestions and circulate prior to uploading to
the College website and EEMeC. Any further comments should be passed to Dr Cameron
as soon as possible as the document would be uploaded within the next week.
7.
STRUCTURE OF RE-TAKE YEARS AND SUPPORT TO STUDENTS UNDERTAKING
THEM
Item postponed until next meeting to enable Dr Thomson to be present/produce a paper.
8.
ASSESSMENT ADMINISTRATION WORKING GROUP PAPERS (A-J; D - item 2.
above) (Paper 07/CE/07)
Papers available on the committees intranet for information only.
Lindsay Dalziel had checked at the last meeting of the above Group whether the
responsibilities of Exam Board Convener could be delegated and this was confirmed. It was
suggested that a spreadsheet breaking down the tasks/responsibilities would provide useful
information and Dr Cameron and Lindsay Dalziel undertook to take this forward.
Dr Reid confirmed that details of assessment processes for each year of the MBChB
programme had been requested from Year Directors. This document had now been
received from Years 2 and 4 and would again be requested from Years 1, 3 and 5 in time for
the November meeting.
9.
VERTICAL THEME COMMITTEE – Dr S Maxwell
Dr Maxwell reported that although this Committee, led by himself, had recently met for the
first time, it was not a new committee but continued the work of the Vertical Theme Group,
led by Professor Kenneth Boyd.
The Committee had agreed “Psychological Aspects of Medicine” should be known as
“Psychological Medicine”. It had also discussed how, within CSPPD, two of the elements
(FAR and Resuscitation and Clinical Procedures) have been merged (see item 5. above).
The specific remit and objectives of the Committee was also discussed. This was noted in
the minutes of the meeting which would be circulated to CE and feedback was welcomed.
The minutes would also be uploaded to the College website.
A further issue discussed was the visibility and presence of the various Vertical Themes on
that particular section of EEMeC, thereby fostering the role of each particular VT. There
were a couple of VTs where leadership was an issue and this was being addressed.
There was mixed feedback on VTs and how they were seen and appreciated or otherwise by
the students and this was reviewed. Feedback was however from 2005/06 with feedback
from 2006/07 about to close on EEMeC. Therefore no specific conclusions could be drawn
until the 2006/07 feedback was available.
10.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
•
Common Marking Scheme
This issue will be discussed at the November meeting. Feedback from Years 4 and 5
is that there should be no change.
•
Leave of Absence (LoA) (Paper 07/CE/08 – tabled)
One student had requested one year’s LoA to explore alternative career options. This
request is supported by the student’s Director of Studies. The student would be
expected to enter Year 3 in September 2008.
This request was approved.
•
SUCSC
Professor Cumming reported that discussion had taken place at SUGSC regarding the
new Extended Common Marking Scheme. A large statistical survey had taken place
and it does not appear to have changed the Honours classifications significantly and
everyone was reassured it had been a success.
There had been an appeal which had been through the University appeal process and
approved. As a result, SUGSC was asked to consider what exactly the student should
do on return to the course. This therefore raised the issue of what kind of evidence
was expected by Colleges as medical evidence. Both Professor Cumming and Ms
Ruth Stewart suggested that the standard of medical evidence that was acceptable
required to be considered. Professor Cumming felt that if an illness was considered
significant enough to warrant special circumstances, the student’s GP should be aware
of it. Further discussion on this matter would ensue in Central University.
11.
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Wednesday, 28 November at 3.00 pm in the Board Room (SU302), Chancellor’s Building.