Curriculum RENOvation

WHY are we RENOvating?

In 2019, the Medical Education Steering Committee (MESC) launched a Taskforce for the Review of the Curriculum (TaFReC) to identify areas strength, and those requiring attention in our existing 4-year curriculum. The TaFReC found several areas of the broader curriculum which needed improvement.

Some key areas of the curriculum renovation goals:

  • Alignment and assessment of the Medical Education Program Objectives (MEPOs)
  • Intentional horizontal and vertical integration of concepts
  • Increased opportunities for active-learning instructional methods
  • Over-reliance on multiple choice assessments
  • Additional opportunities for specialty and career exploration before residency application

The TaFReC's findings along with student feedback from both internal and external surveys, consideration of best-practices in educating future physicians, and the desire to remain current with national trends in medical education, prompted the MESC's development of the Curriculum Renovation Committee in 2021.

WHERE are we now?

As of March 2023, the renovation efforts are working on:

Year 1 & 2 Committee Update: We are actively translating the chief concerns list into working definitions and planning where in blocks these chief concerns will be sequenced.

Year 3 & 4: We are also working on the timeline of the core required clinical clerkships in relation to the pre-clerkship curriculum.

Assessment: Aligning chief concerns lists with competency-based medical education

These major curricular organization structure decisions will be presented to the Medical Education Steering Committee in July 2023 for approval.

WHO is working on Curriculum RENOvation?

Curriculum Renovation Committee (CRC)

The Curriculum Renovation Committee was created in January of 2021 and includes members from the basic science faculty, clinical faculty, students, administration, and staff. Three subcommittees were created to focus work on specific phases and components of the curriculum renovation:

Year 1-2 Subcommittee - Pre-clerkship Block Directors, Content Leads, Student Representatives and Staff (Office of Medical Education, Office of Student Affairs)

Year 3-4 Subcommittee - Clerkship Directors, Electives Directors, Student Representatives and Staff (Office of Medical Education, Office of Student Affairs)

Assessment and Evaluation - Basic Science Faculty, Clinical Faculty, Student Representatives and Staff (Office of Medical Education, Office of Student Affairs)

If you would like to join one of these subcommittee above, please email Nick Cheung, Project Manager at ncheung @unr.edu or you can also fill out this form with your interest: CRC Subgroups Sign Up Form

WHEN will it launch?

The launch of the new curriculum is set for Fall of 2024.

The timeline below shows the immediate work on Curriculum Renovation that needs to be completed through the end of the calendar year 2023.

There are four major components underway:

  1. Goals/Objectives and Content - January through June 2023
    • Core Conditions/Clinical Presentations Framework 
    • Medical Education Program Objectives (MEPO)
  2. Curriculum Organization/Structure  - January through June 2023
    • Foundational Phase
    • Clerkship Phase
    • Exploration/Electives Phase
    • Horizontal and Vertical Integration
    • Course Level Objectives
  3. Course Structure - June 2023 through December 2023
    • Blocks
    • Clerkships
    • Electives
    • Session Learning Objectives
  4. Assessment/Evaluation - June 2023 through December 2023
    • Curriculum RENOvation Implementation and Planning - January 2024 through July 2024
    • Curriculum RENOvation launch in July 2024 in for the academic year 2024-2025

Major Curricular Modification Notification due to the LCME by December 1, 2023