1. 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

2. Disclosures
None of the session faculty have anything to disclose

3. 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

4. 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)
Curriculum mapping is one tool used to review content coverage and alignment across learning activities, professional competencies, and examinations. Developing a plan for effective curriculum mapping implementation and sustaining this expectation can be a challenge, with little guidance available with regard to the resources involved, effective management strategies, or the formatting required to allow for effective reporting and benchmarking. Educators from three osteopathic medical schools will share their experiences in resourcing and managing the curriculum mapping process, each with a unique approach to securing IT support, engaging faculty/students/staff, piloting use of mapping terminologies, entering data into a central repository and generating reports, including those provided by the AAMC Curriculum Inventory. Application to institutional benchmarking, continuous quality improvement and professional development efforts will also be explored.
Challenge or Issue Addressed
Many schools are interested in the use of curriculum mapping tools for identifying a manageable core of relevant knowledge – beginning with program goals and systematically identifying content at increasing levels of specificity in order to better target intended outcomes. Developing a plan for effective and sustainable curriculum mapping can be a challenge. One reason is there is little guidance available from the medical education literature with regard to institution-specific management strategies, or information on formatting curriculum data for reporting purposes. Few opportunities exist for schools to share approaches for launching and/or sustaining a curriculum mapping initiative. Representatives from three different medical schools will share their unique perspectives, triumphs, and challenges on allocating resources, staffing, and data coding/formatting in support of curricular improvement.
Innovative Approach
In this session, participants will have the unique opportunity to hear from and interact with key individuals significantly involved with curriculum mapping initiatives at multiple stages of development across three osteopathic medical school campuses, representing both established and newer programs. The unique attributes, methods, and history of each approach will allow attendees to broadly consider ways of customizing their own curriculum mapping planning, coding, and data formatting. Handouts will serve as planning tools that can be used post-conference to guide data preparation efforts, and the speakers will be happy to answer questions via , phone, etc., post conference.
Rationale or Pertinence to Conference Theme
Curriculum mapping is one strategy that can be used to promote “resilience,” the main theme of this year’s conference. We put forth the concept of “resilience” as both an individual- and institution-level construct. As a way of teaching about and promoting student resilience, mapping allows for improved tracking and reinforcement of OMM and a broad spectrum of professionalism/wellness learning activities across the curriculum. Mapping is also a way to promote the wellness of the organization by engaging curriculum stakeholders in an organic, holistic and continuous change management process. We further note that the “curriculum mapping” topic intersects with several other AACOM-identified tracks and topics, including those focused on assessment/evaluation and faculty development.
Evidence-Base Used for Development of the Content
The content is developed to fill an observed need to provide support to educators involved in curriculum mapping. The processes discussed are based on feedback from faculty, staff, IT professionals and administrators involved in the curriculum mapping process. Journal articles, expert resources, and technologies are also referenced when developing content for this session.
Audience Involvement
We hope to generate a thoughtful discussion that extends beyond the timeframe of this session and leads to collaborative interaction and support among institutions. An overarching outline for the session includes:
opening introductions and an overview of session objectives (5 minutes);
definitions, models, coding language, brief CI overview (5-10 minutes);
individual campus approaches and resources/staffing involved (20-25 minutes);
shared audience examples, exploration of a planning tools, and Q&A (20-25 minutes)
References
Harden RM. AMEE Guide No. 21: Curriculum mapping: a tool for transparent and authentic teaching and learning. Med Teach. 2001;23(2):
D'eon M, Crawford R. The elusive content of the medical school curriculum: a method to the madness. Med Teach. 2005;27(8):
Bordage G, Harris I. Making a difference in curriculum reform and decision-making processes. Med Educ. 2011; 45(1):
Prideaux D. ABC of learning and teaching in medicine. BMJ. 2003;326(7383):

5. 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

6. Local Use of National Benchmarks
Local Use of National Benchmarks
Your mission:
…train mental health providers for underserved areas…

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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?
Please divide into groups and discuss these four questions. We would like for you to be able to discuss all of the questions, and then do a quick wrap-up of the summary you will present from your group. We would like the scribe for each group to either give hand-written notes to one of the session faculty or them to within a week. We’ll leave the questions on the screen during the discussion.

10. 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?
While these sessions are always great for learning new information and processes, as well as for meeting new colleagues, we are exposed to so much information at these meetings that we sometimes lose great plans and intentions by the time we return to our offices. Let’s take a few moments to organize our thoughts and make meaningful use of what we have just learned. And, please remember to give your group notes to one of the session faculty or them to