Town Hall Meeting!

Coming up on Wednesday 23, 2009 from 3-5pm in the Alumni Auditorium. Attend this meeting for an opportunity to discuss the Curriculum Renewal Proposal and contribute to it's development.

Over the next 3 years, the College of Medicine will undertake the task of renewing its curriculum to ensure that we graduate students with excellent preparation to practice medicine in a changing medical and social environment. We undertake this process with the understanding of the unique educational mission of our school and which is reflected in the students we attract and select. Many of our students are members of minority and cultural groups under-represented in medicine and/ or come from families of first generation immigrants or economically disadvantaged backgrounds. As we keep our mission in mind, we will design a new curriculum that features the 3 principles of Integration, Collaboration, and Relevance, as well as define the competencies of our graduating students.

Principle of Integration

Curricular material will be integrated within and between all four years of the curriculum while threading both clinical and basic science throughout the four years. This should be done so that our students experience the curriculum as an integrated whole. The curriculum will explicitly define learning outcomes and competencies that can be measured. Whenever possible these outcomes and competencies should reflect a building of attitudes, knowledge, and skill level across the four years so that students progress along a continuum of depth of understanding of content and the adoption and mastering of skills. Our integrated curriculum will welcome every student into the profession of medicine on day one, and the values and behaviors we desire of our graduating students will be cultivated by our faculty and medical educational program. We will make every effort to assure every student becomes the best physician possible.

Principle of Collaboration

Collaborative efforts will involve faculty and staff from all areas of the College of Medicine as well as faculty in the other Colleges at Downstate, our affiliates, our students, and important organizations such as the Alumni Association and other academic organizations. Collaborative teaching and learning will be used in the curriculum. A variety of teaching methods will be developed and continuously refined to optimize learning.

Principle of Relevance

The curriculum will be carefully and continuously examined for relevance. Medical science is rapidly changing and we must be poised to identify and integrate new curricular materials that are relevant to training the best physicians. This means not only integrating new scientific knowledge and principles, but also assuring that we are training physicians with the skills they need to practice effectively in a changing health care environment. This includes such skills as the ability to work in teams and understand the health care system, practicing in a patient centered manner, and developing the ability to be a life-long learner who can evaluate and integrate new knowledge and skills throughout one's professional life.

Goals of Curriculum — Competencies of Graduating Students

Following the lead of the ACGME, most medical schools are defining and assessing competencies of their students. Some of the most challenging discussions in medical education revolve around defining precisely what knowledge, attitudes and skills graduating medical students should acquire before beginning residency training. This discussion by a medical school's stakeholders is crucial to developing a common understanding that drives a coherent curriculum. Descriptions of competencies should not be words on a page, but a living document that evolves and captures the best thinking about what to expect of a graduating medical student. In this spirit, we propose the following competencies derived from our current "Eight Domains of Competence".