EDITOR’S NOTE: The redesign of the College of Medicine curriculum is moving full speed ahead with implementation slated for the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year. To help people become more familiar with the process and gain a better understanding of what the college hopes to accomplish, InterCOM plans to carry a series of articles over the next several months on curriculum reform.
The series continues this month with a look at how curriculum redesign will better meet the learning needs of today's students. In subsequent articles, we will explore:
· The faculty involved in curriculum redesign.
· What curriculum redesign will mean to COM faculty.
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The UNMC College of Medicine doesn't want its students memorizing textbooks anymore.
Beginning in the 2017 fall semester, UNMC is embracing Training the Physicians of Tomorrow (TPT), a new active learning-based curriculum that emphasizes hands-on learning techniques, small-group interaction, technology and research and inquiry.
Accomplishing such a massive curricular overhaul has been largely in response to a changing student body.
Watch a video on the initiative here.
"Students are a lot different now than they were even 10 years ago," said Geoffrey A. Talmon, M.D., associate professor of pathology/microbiology, vice chair of medical education.
"Our focus, based on how students have changed, is less about simply dishing out information, but instead is focused on teaching students how to use information they find independently."
This new experiential pedagogy also includes a substantial shift in thinking for the College of Medicine faculty and staff.
"UNMC's faculty has embraced transformative change as a way to provide students with a curriculum that is not only more exciting and innovative, but more contextual, more practical," said Pamela Arellano, curriculum transition coordinator.
"Every hour of every day of TPT has been carefully crafted with the 21st century student at its center.
Faculty are not only going above and beyond preparing students to pass board exams; they are considering what kind of medical professionals tomorrow's health care system will need," Arellano said.
Increasing students' mastery of tools such as ultrasound and electronic medical records systems and fostering independent research from scholarly sources are just some of the innovations College of Medicine students enrolled in TPT can expect to engage in.
Community-based team problem solving, interprofessional education opportunities, and UNMC's stellar clinical experiences await the Class of 2021.
"The days of being able to hide in a lecture hall of 300 students are over," Dr. Talmon said. "Every single day, the students will be in groups, working with other students, taking part in projects, actually preparing to take care of patients."
See the new Training the Physicians of Tomorrow website here.