Curriculum Guiding Principles
Embracing our mission, vision, and values, the College of Medicine at NEOMED provides a dynamic, integrated, and comprehensive curriculum that assists 21st-century learners in becoming patient-centered and community-focused physician leaders.
Included here is a summary of the College of Medicine’s guiding principles for its curriculum. For the full description, download the full version of the Updated Guiding Principles.*
Integration
Improved curriculum integration strengthens the educational experience. Our revised curriculum prioritizes active learning with approaches such as:
- Integrated, longitudinal case series across the four-year curriculum
- Early longitudinal clinical integrated experience that weave together existing preclinical experiences (e.g., PACE and community project)
- Rigorous investment in, and inclusion of, applied learning methodologies across the curriculum
- Integration of assessments, both formative and summative, that connect concurrent and longitudinal coursework
- Integration of foundational and clinical science concepts throughout the curriculum to promote both student and faculty engagement
- Continual holistic review of curriculum to address content gaps and best align educational programming for student success
Experience
Emphasis on experiential education strengthens our public service commitment as well as the educational experience:
- Exploration of the multiple ways of presenting and applying course content, with an emphasis on applied methodologies as are appropriate inside the classroom as well as outside experiences within the communities NEOMED serves
- Use of technology to enhance self-directed learning and expand teaching and learning beyond the traditional classroom
- Experiential educational deliverables including longitudinal community and research projects to address health challenges within the context of diverse and underserved communities in Ohio
Threads
Inclusion and tracking of critical concepts that are core to NEOMED’s values and identity will be “threaded” through the curriculum, with multiple touch points woven across four years. These curricular threads include:
- Interprofessional teamwork and leadership (including coordination with the College of Pharmacy and other health care professionals)
- Community and population health
- Evidence-based practice
- Clinical skills development
- Humanistic and socially-just practice (Diversity, Inclusion, Health Equity)
- Translational research
Wellness & Personal Development
Deliberate and continual student investment in wellness and personal development:
- Curriculum alignment that supports student health and wellness
- Continuous student assessment and coaching for curricular support, academic success and accreditation preparedness
- Curricular outcomes focused on producing graduates who are leaders in wellness and self-care best practices, both for themselves and for the compassionate care of their future patients
- Increased focus on group work to create a sense of community and peer support
- Increased emphasis on personal growth and life-long, independent learning
Competence (Multi-Year Effort)
Focus on student competency-based outcomes:
- Development of outcome-focused program objectives/competencies
- Holistic integration of competency assessments across the curriculum, 0including existing and new competency assessments
- Data-driven “dashboards” identifying learner progression with competencies throughout the curriculum
- Integration of an e-portfolio system that organizes accumulated educational artifacts for continual review, feedback to the student, and demonstration of growth and competence for graduation
