Comparing and Benchmarking Curricula
 Kim Moscatello, PhD, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine
 Leslie Wimsatt, PhD, Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine
 Walter Fitz-William, MPP, Association of American Medical Colleges
AACOM 2017: Educating Leaders: Integrated Health Systems
Disclosures
 None of the session faculty have anything to disclose
AACOM 2017: Educating Leaders: Integrated Health Systems
Learning Objectives:
 By attending this session, attendees will be able to:
 Discuss the types of reports local curriculum management systems might
want to include to facilitate benchmarking efforts
 Describe the types of tools and resources curriculum committees need to
make curricular decisions
 Provide examples of the major issues affecting curriculum committees
AACOM 2017: Educating Leaders: Integrated Health Systems
Format of Activities:
 Introduction of workshop goals / process and short overviews by three
schools regarding curriculum committee activities and needs (5 mins)
 Review of examples of existing Curriculum Inventory resources (5
minutes)
 Focus group discussions of the following questions (10 minutes)
 What tools and resources do curriculum committees need to make curricular
decisions?
 What are the data sources necessary to provide comprehensive curriculum data for
benchmarking?
 Reports back to the larger group (10 minutes)
AACOM 2017: Educating Leaders: Integrated Health Systems
Challenges and perspectives:
 Developing, implementing, maintaining, and continuously improving curricula:
 complex process -- often requires comparative data to make informed decisions.
 Current process for finding comparative data:
 Conduct literature reviews
 Conduct surveys
 Communicate with peers
 New Resource: The Curriculum Inventory (CI) -- an international
repository for curriculum data with resources for:





Curriculum planning
Curriculum renewal
Curriculum management and oversight
Educational research
Legislative and media queries
AACOM 2017: Educating Leaders: Integrated Health Systems
https://www.aamc.org/initiatives/cir/426810/05d.html
Local Use of National Benchmarks
Average Number of Required Weeks in Psychiatry
15
13.6
Number of Required Weeks
Your mission:
11.3
10.2
10
…train mental health providers for underserved areas…
5.9
5.5
5.5
5.5
5.6
5.2
5
0
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
Average Number of Weeks Reported
2014-2015
2015-2016
Our School
AACOM 2017: Educating Leaders: Integrated Health Systems
LECOM
 Curriculum Committee Challenges
 Mapping a complex 5 pathway curriculum
 We currently have 5 parallel curricular pathways that a student may enter:
 A traditional Lecture discussion Pathway (LDP), a Problem Based Learning Pathway (PBL), a
Directed Study Pathway (DSP), an Accelerated Physicians assistant Pathway (APAP) and a
Primary Care Scholars Pathway (PCSP)
 Reviewing all courses, systems and pathways in a timely manner
 Our committee is currently on a 3 year cycle for reviews
 Mapping/Assessing competencies like professionalism
AACOM 2017: Educating Leaders: Integrated Health Systems
DMU-COM
 Curriculum Committee Decision-Making Challenges
 Assessing implications related to proposed curricular changes
 Possible movement to a block scheduling model in Years 1-2 / elective
consolidation
 Implications for PT/FT faculty and student hours + facility use
 Implications for competency coverage
 Mapping and assessing specific student competency areas
 Professionalism, evidence-based medicine, cultural competency, etc.
 Reviewing levels of student engagement in learning
 Special experiences of interest (e.g., ultrasound coverage)
 Holistic assessment of instructional / assessment methods
 Analysis and reporting of competencies distributed across the curriculum
AACOM 2017: Educating Leaders: Integrated Health Systems
Discussion Questions:
What tools and resources do curriculum committees need to make
curricular decisions?
What are the data sources necessary to provide comprehensive
curriculum data for benchmarking?
AACOM 2017: Educating Leaders: Integrated Health Systems
Session Wrap-Up
 What are some ‘take-home’ messages from this session?
 What action items will you take back to your institution?
 What resources do you need to assist you with this
process?
 What colleagues have you just met who could work with
you to implement new strategies or help you with
resources?
AACOM 2017: Educating Leaders: Integrated Health Systems