The New Curriculum
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The following was approved at the Oct. 2010 CC
meeting:

Full integration of material typically covered in the first and
second year

Fundamentals covered in the fall of the first year followed
by 9 organ-based modules, completing second year by midMarch

Third year clerkships to begin first week of June

Re-structure of Third and Fourth Year
New Module Structure
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Weekly thematic content
Monday mornings begin with review of fundamentals,
module integration and introduction of the case for the
week
Friday mornings reserved for interactive small group
case discussion, clinical reasoning/problem solving skills
Afternoons reserved for clinical evaluation skills with
standardized and real patients
New Module Structure
Within the Module, progression of Knowledge:
Normal structure/function →
pathogenesis/pathophysiology of disorders →
clinical manifestations of disorders →
pharmacotherapeutic modalities →
clinical/translational research/EBM →
epidemiology/prevention →
interpretation of diagnostic tests
Proposed Schedule
Fall 2012
 Fundamentals – Medicine, Behavior and Society
(1 week)
 Fundamentals – Molecules to Man
(4 weeks)
 Fundamentals – Cells to Tissue
(5 weeks)
 Fundamentals – Medicine, Behavior and Society
(1 week)
 Fundamentals – Attack and Defense I
(5 weeks)
 Thanksgiving Week – online content
(1 week)
 Fundamentals – Attack and Defense II
(3 weeks)
 Winter Break
Proposed Schedule
Spring 2013
 Medicine, Behavior and Society
 Respiratory Module
 Cardiovascular Module
 Spring Break
 Hematology Module
 Medicine, Behavior and Society
 Renal Module

Summer Break
1 week
4 weeks
5 weeks
3 weeks
1 week
5 weeks
8 weeks
Proposed Schedule
Fall 2013
 Medicine, Behavior and Society
 Neuroscience Module
 Medicine, Behavior and Society
 Endocrine/Reproductive Module
 Thanksgiving – on-line content
 Dermatology and Special Topics
 Winter Break
1 week
9 weeks
1 week
7 weeks
1 week
3 weeks
Proposed Schedule
Spring 2014
 Musculoskeletal
 Gastro-enterology
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4 weeks
6 weeks
Spring Break
Study and take Step 1
1 week
7 weeks
Begin Pre-clerkship course
Begin clerkships
mid-May
June 2, 2014
Administration of New Modules

Module Co-Director

Discipline Coordinator

Office of Education – centralized oversight for
schedules, contact hours, syllabi, exams, cases, etc.
Module Co-Directors


Responsibilities: One basic science, one clinical science;
shared responsibility to plan the detailed contents and
pedagogy of the particular module, coordinate
syllabus, cases and exam questions, final grades, meet
with students. Reports to Office of Education with CC
approval.
Requirements: Knowledge and experience in medical
education; time management skills to meet deadlines;
excellent communication, interpersonal and leadership
skills; ability to work in a team environment and
collaborate.
Module Co-Directors

Time commitment:
 20%
 25%
 80-100%
 25%
 15%
Planning module for 2012
Two weeks before module begins
While module is in session
Two weeks after module ends
Two months before first repeat of
module
Discipline Coordinators

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Responsibilities: Determine overall appropriate topics of a
particular discipline (ex., biochemistry) throughout all four
years, assist in determining which topics to be covered in
modules; follow content coverage in regards to:
competencies/required diagnoses-disorders; USMLE Step
1and 2 topics; LCME required subjects; monitor student
performance within the discipline. Reports to Office of
Education with CC approval.
Requirements: Knowledge and experience in medical
education; time management skills to meet deadlines;
excellent communication, interpersonal and leadership skills;
ability to work in a team environment and collaborate.
Discipline Coordinator

Time commitment:
Responsibilities are longitudinal
Overall, 20% time, will vary during the year
Discipline Coordinators
Adult Health
men/women/geri
Anatomy
Behavioral Science
Biochemistry
Child Health
EBM/Informatics/Transl
Epidemiology/Public
Health
Ethics
Genetics
Histology
Microbiology
Neuroscience
Pathology
Pharmacology
Preventive medicine
Physiology
Radiology
Curriculum Reform Timeline

March
2011
Steering Committee appointed

May
2011
Education Kick-Off Retreat

June
2011
Appointments of Module
Co-Directors, Discipline
Coordinators and Case
Construction Committee

July
2011
Organizational meetings of
Module Co-Directors,
Discipline Coordinators and
Case Construction Committee
Curriculum Reform Timeline

August
2011
Curriculum Committee appoints
ad hoc subcommittee to begin
planning for second two years of
curriculum

August
2011
Module teams assembled

Nov.
2011
Module plans for year 1 are presented
to Curriculum Committee

Feb.
2012
Module plans and schedule are final,
handouts and exam questions are being
produced

August
2012
New curriculum begins for
entering class
Steering Committee
Appointed March 2011
 Members: Renee Brown
Nan Clare*
Deb Conway
Bob Esterl
Sean Garcia
Michael Johnson
Tom King
Deb Stark
*Chair

Microbiology
Office of Education
OB/Gyn
Surgery
Medicine
Medicine
C & SB
ACET
Other Aspects
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Video podcast of lectures
Exam question format
Uniformity of syllabus/handouts
Electronic syllabus
Computerized testing
Students required to have laptop computers
Unsolved Issues

Grades: letter vs. numerical vs. Pass/Fail
Assessment of student competencies other than
exams
Student failures/remediation
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The New Curriculum needs a NAME!!
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