UWSMPH Curriculum Transformation
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Why should we transform our curriculum?
How should we change?
What is the timeline for transformation?
How do I get involved in the transformation process?
Why Medical Education at SMPH Must Change
The leaders of Medical Education and the Education Policy Committee at the University of
Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health strongly endorse a robust transformative
curriculum redesign to longitudinally integrate basic biomedical science, clinical training, public
health, humanism, and interprofessional experience into our education and training programs.
The explicit goal of this curricular transformation is to enhance and inspire the development of
future health care providers who will be well-equipped to improve the quality of health care and
the health of individuals and populations in Wisconsin and beyond. We believe that innovative
revolutionary changes in the curriculum are required to provide an exceptional education for
medical students in the School of Medicine and Public Health as outlined below.
Revolutionary changes in healthcare and public health demand a different kind of
physician.
 Interprofessional collaboration and team-based care are essential elements of new
healthcare systems.1
o Current SMPH curriculum has limited interprofessional and team-based learning
opportunities.
 Physicians must be prepared to work in both complex health systems and communities
to address all health determinants to improve health.2-4
o Current SMPH curriculum has very limited offerings in health systems and
quality improvement.
o Current SMPH curriculum in health determinants is concentrated in the preclinical years with few opportunities for application in clinical settings.
National accreditation and assessment standards are changing.
 The MCAT now places considerable emphasis on social and psychological science
content as an essential foundation of medical school.
o SMPH curriculum is not flexible to accommodate matriculants with these
backgrounds.
 There is a constant stream of new LCME accreditation curriculum standards.
o SMPH curriculum is packed to capacity with little flexibility for change, leaving
limited capacity to accommodate any new content areas.
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NBME has proposed a new exam process that will eliminate the current USMLE Step 1
and 2 in favor of a single “gateway” exam integrating basic and clinical sciences that will
occur at the end of medical school training.
o Significantly improved integration of basic and clinical science will be needed
than currently exists in the SMPH curriculum.
Recent influential medical education reports make strong recommendations for
abandoning traditional 2 + 2 curricula in favor of longitudinal integration of the basic and
clinical sciences.5
o SMPH curricular integration has been within years and not between years. There
is no integration between current pre-clinical and clinical curricula resulting in
large volumes of basic science material being taught without adequate clinical
context and little basic science reinforcement during clinical clerkships.
SMPH students would benefit from increased timely and relevant career exploration and
residency preparation experiences.
 There are significant learning and residency application pressures on 4th SMPH year
students.
o National changes have resulted in earlier residency application deadlines and
SMPH students may not be able to complete essential clinical requirements
earlier in the current curriculum without curricular reform.
o SMPH students have minimal time for Step 2 preparation and could have
trouble taking it early enough to include in their residency application.
 Students require earlier opportunities for career exploration.
o SMPH students have only 4 weeks during required clerkships for career
exploration, substantially less than peer schools.
 Residencies are demanding that graduates are better prepared for competency-based
educational milestones.
o SMPH has no internship preparation courses (“boot camps”) that are becoming
standard at peer schools.6
1. IPEC (Interprofessional Education Collaborative) Expert Panel Report (2011): Core Competencies for
Interprofessional Collaborative Practice. Available at
http://www.asph.org/userfiles/CollaborativePractice.pdf
2. IOM (2002a): Who Will Keep the Public Healthy: Educating Public Health Professionals for the 21st
Century. Available at: http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2002/Who-Will-Keep-the-Public-Healthy-EducatingPublic-Health-Professionals-for-the-21st-Century.aspx
3. IOM (2002b): The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century. Available at:
http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2002/The-Future-of-the-Publics-Health-in-the-21st-Century.aspx
4. IOM (2012): Primary Care and Public Health: Exploring Integration to Improve Population Health.
Available at: http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2012/Primary-Care-and-Public-Health.aspx
5. Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (2010): Educating Physicians: A Call for
Reform of Medical School and Residency. Available at
http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/newsroom/press-releases/educating-physicians-call-reform-medicalschool-and-residency
6. Teo AR et al. The Key Role of a Transition Course in Preparing Medical Students for Internship. Acad
Med. 2011;86:860–865.
How We Propose the SMPH Curriculum Should Change
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Full integration of basic, public health and clinical sciences where students retain and apply
science concepts throughout their education
Competency-based curriculum with longitudinal sequencing requiring collaboration of
medical educators across all years of the curriculum
Longitudinal interprofessional and team-based educational opportunities
Longitudinal public health and system-based practice opportunities with special emphasis
on “hands-on” application of knowledge in clinical and community settings
Earlier entry into clinical clerkships to facilitate career exploration and competitiveness for
residency selection
Advanced learning opportunities for internship preparation
TransformationTimeline
Step 1: Curriculum Transformation Committee Develops Rationale For Change
Document (Approved by EPC on 1/9/13)
Step 2: Begin Information Sharing Process with Department Chairs, Faculty, Students
and Staff (Starting in January 2013)
 Combined Chairs on 2/25/13
 MSA Student Leadership on 2/28/13
 Medical Education Day on May 3, 2013
Step 2: Curriculum Transformation Committee Defines Plan for Transformation
Workgroups (February-March 2013)
Step 3: Early Transformation Workgroups
(June 2013-September 2013: Working groups meet and complete work)
Step 4: Later Transformation Workgroups
(Fall 2013-Winter 2014)
Step 5: Design Phases of Education
(Winter-Spring 2014)
Step 6: Pilot Elements of the New Curriculum
(Fall 2014)
Step 6: Consideration and Approval of New Curriculum by EPC, APC and Campus
(Fall 2014 and Winter 2015)
Full Rollout of New Curriculum in Fall 2015
How You Can Be Involved in Transformation
Join an Early Transformation Workgroup!
1. Professionalism Workgroup: This workgroup will review current professionalism learning
activities and outcomes across the SMPH curriculum and will evaluate for gaps, redundancies
and opportunities. Content in this area includes professional development, ethics, and
humanism.
2. Lifelong Learning Workgroup: This workgroup will review current lifelong learning activities
and outcomes across the SMPH curriculum and will evaluate for gaps, redundancies and
opportunities. Content in this area includes evidence-based decision-making.
3. Interpersonal and Communication Skills Workgroup: This workgroup will review current
interpersonal and communication skill learning and outcomes across the SMPH curriculum and
will evaluate for gaps, redundancies and opportunities. Content in this area includes cultural
competence.
4. Systems-based Practice Workgroup: This workgroup will review current systems-based
practice learning and outcomes across the SMPH curriculum and will evaluate for gaps,
redundancies and opportunities. Content in this area includes teamwork, quality improvement
and patient safety.
5. Assessment Workgroup: This workgroup will review current SMPH student assessments
across the curriculum and will compare with best practices and identify gaps and opportunities.
6. Milestone Workgroup: This workgroup will review new ACGME outcome-based milestones
and will suggest modifications to SMPH competencies that will best prepare our graduates for
entry into residencies. This group will also determine milestones that medical students will
attain at transitions between phases of the new curriculum.
7. Public Relations/Communication Workgroup: This workgroup will develop a communication
plan for curricular transformation determining best ways of engaging key stakeholders.
8. Medical Knowledge Process Workgroup: This workgroup will determine a process by which
faculty, staff and students can prioritize medical knowledge and determine highly relevant
content for every medical student.
If you are interested in joining one or more of the Early Transformation Workgroups, please sign
up by June 5th at https://uwmadison.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_elWLoKQbm9Yecjr