Curriculum Committee Policies

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Course and Clerkship Preview and Review

Policies & Procedures

Courses and Clerkships Preview Process (new and ongoing):

Assumptions:  Course & clerkship directors (referred to as directors in this document) have been selected based upon their content expertise and experience as educators.  The director, working with the year director, and other faculty participants will have the freedom to develop the course as s/he sees fit, but will be mindful of the accepted College of Medicine educational principles and desired educational outcomes (competencies).  Director and year director will work closely with the Office of Medical Education in course planning and development.  Every effort will be made to develop courses and clerkships that are truly innovative and can provide faculty opportunities to engage in scholarly activities in teaching and learning.  Best evidence medical education (BEME) principles will be employed in developing new course and clerkship offerings (and in modifying the course and clerkship in the future.)

Expectation:  No less than eight weeks prior to the beginning of the semester, the director will present a written report to the Year Director and Membership of the Curriculum Committee consisting of the following information:

• Course or clerkship title and number
• List of faculty participating in the planning process
• List of faculty members who will participate in course delivery
• Course or clerkship goals and objectives (including a statement/list of the specific COM competencies explicitly addressed and assessed as part of the course.  Note: Office of Medical Education will assist the director in this process).
• Information on how the course or clerkship contributes to meeting competencies of the curriculum appropriate to the subject matter and methods of the course or clerkship; and a brief discussion of how the course or clerkship conforms to the eight "principles of the curriculum" adopted by the curriculum committee (see attached).
• Examples of how the course or clerkship objectives relate to some of the general objectives of the college of medicine.
• Instructional methods (lectures, laboratories, clinical experiences, small group, self-directed projects, etc) and the number of scheduled hours per method must be included.
• Reading assignments and texts
• Semester calendar
• Description of formative and summative student assessment methods
• Examination schedule
• Grading policies and methods
• Resource needs (e.g., small group rooms, access to laboratory space, visiting faculty, access to CLC, faculty training and development, etc.)
• Provide a brief assessment of FSU University and FSU College of Medicine knowledge-based resources that will support the course or clerkship.  For areas not covered adequately, make recommendations to the COM Medical Library to address these core needs.
• Other information deemed important by director (e.g., description of innovative course or clerkship features, plans to collect data for scholarly presentation/publication).

The director will then be invited by the chair of the curriculum committee to make a 5-10 minute presentation to the committee and answer questions about the course or clerkship.

Course and Clerkship Review Process:

The director, in collaboration with OME staff, student representatives, and faculty peer consultant will generate an end of course or clerkship report outlining the following:

• How the course or clerkship was implemented and offering explanations for significant changes in implementation from what had been originally proposed.  If the number of originally scheduled contact hours has been changed, provide an explanation of how the curriculum committee was informed and the reason(s) for the change.
• Major strengths and weaknesses of course or clerkship as identified by students, participating faculty, faculty “peer consultant” (designated by the curriculum committee), and by the director his/herself.
• Summary of grading methods and grade distribution
• Anticipated changes in the next administration of course or clerkship.

Course and Clerkship Previews (New and Ongoing):  Curriculum Committee Responsibilities

• Assure that the course or clerkship is consistent with the educational principles and objectives of the College of Medicine
• Assure that course or clerkship goals and objectives are adequately coordinated with the goals and objectives of other course or clerkship offerings
• Assure that student assessment methods are appropriate and consistent with College principles and policies
• Designate peer evaluation “consultant” (see below)
• Student curriculum committee members will assure that a member of their class is identified to work with the course director and Office of Medical Education in facilitating the timely and constructive feedback of students

Course and Clerkship Previews (New and Ongoing:  Office of Medical Education Responsibilities and Activities)

The leadership and staff of the OME (including but not limited to the Director of Medical Education/Assistant Dean for Curriculum and Evaluation, Assistant Dean for Faculty Development, Director of Medical Informatics, Director of the Clinical Learning Center) will be available as requested to assist a director and his/her design team in the development of the new course or clerkship.  Directors are encouraged to use these resources.

The OME will work with the director, year director and curriculum committee in designing and implementing an overall course or clerkship evaluation process appropriate to the course or clerkship.  This will include but not be limited to:

• Administering and collating student evaluations of course or clerkship and faculty (including FSU-wide required evaluations).
• Facilitating student focus groups/feedback groups.
• Facilitating peer evaluation and working with designated peer evaluation “consultant” designated by the curriculum committee to review course or clerkship implementation, including observation of selected lectures, clinical experiences, small group and laboratory activities, and examination of assessment procedures.
• Monitoring student assessment methods to assure that these methods are appropriate, valid and reliable, equitable, and systematically applied
• Monitoring student performance on standardized outcome measure related to course or clerkship content (e.g., NBME subject examinations, USMLE steps 1 & 2).
• Debriefing director
• Assist director in designing course changes based on evaluation and feedback
• Provide input to curriculum committee and Dean regarding the role and quality of individual courses and clerkships in meeting desired curricular outcome and appropriate competencies.
  

Current Curriculum Committee Principles

1.  Promote a student centered curriculum

• Create an environment that shows respect for the student
• Faculty are the role models for desired behaviors and outcomes
• Learning environment designed to support student needs

2.  Provide a context framed educational plan (how the student would use and apply knowledge)

• Curriculum will be integrated within years and across years of the program
• Case-based learning will be used to stimulate learning and promote application of basic sciences to clinical sciences
• Clinical presentations with simulated and real patients will be used to stimulate learning
• Curriculum will flow from list of basic clinical presentations that provide the foundation for exposure to clinical areas necessary for preparing the undifferentiated medical student for all possibilities for post graduate training.

3.  Our coursework should be integrated horizontally and vertically.

4.  Curriculum will be based on the following measurable competencies

• Professional values attitudes and behaviors
• Moral reasoning and ethical judgment
• Communicating with patients, families and colleagues
• Application of basic biomedical and  behavioral sciences to patient care
• Essential clinical skills
• Problem solving and critical thinking
• Life-long learning and information management
• Social cultural and community context of health, illness, and care
• Personal awareness
• Organizations, systems, and quality improvement

5.  Scholarship and the discovery of new knowledge will be encouraged and facilitated

• Opportunity for research will be provided
  
• Scholarly activities in basic sciences, clinical sciences and community medicine will be encouraged

6.  Educational Environment will be appropriate to the mission of the medical school. In addition to the general medical facility we will make specific provisions for including learning experiences in geriatrics, serving underserved populations and serving rural populations.  These provisions include experiences in:

• basic science and human behavior courses
• community based activities
• hospital settings

7.  The students will be educated in the bio-psychosocial model and provided with learning opportunities to facilitate the understanding of medicine within the context of different cultural and social situations

8.  Promotion of lifelong learning.

• Adult learning style
• ctive learning style
• Utilization of medical informatics
• Interpretation of scientific literature
• Understanding and application of statistical methods
• Exposure to primary research