Office of Curriculum
Dean's Charge For Curriculum Redesign
To All School of Medicine Faculty:
Texas Tech University School of Medicine is committed to excellence in the medical education of generalist physicians in preparation for training in any clinical specialty. We have come to a time for the future of our School when we must review our curriculum in light of the national movement and accreditation standards toward competency-based education, integration of clinical and basic sciences, and early introduction of clinical care. Development and implementation of innovative and modern teaching methodologies are necessary for our students to become self-directed learners, capable of managing and using the constantly changing best evidence for practice. This is an unparalleled opportunity for our dedicated teaching faculty to reshape our curriculum so that our students are the best prepared doctors and our faculty members are the best educators.
Therefore as Dean, I charge our faculty with a comprehensive review and redesign of the curriculum, with a mandate to put into place an evaluation system that will ensure excellence and guide future change. I specifically charge the Educational Policy Committee, Lynn Bickley, M.D., Associate Dean for Curriculum, and the Educational Summit Planning Team approved by the EPC in January 2004, to plan and execute an Educational Summit to develop recommendations necessary for establishing a dynamic and exciting curriculum characterized by:
- Active management of vertical and horizontal curricular content across all four years, with continuous integration of basic science and clinical medicine and early introduction of clinical experiences;
- Application of contemporary principles of self-directed adult learning, in conjunction with varied teaching formats, with a distribution of contact hours that approaches 50-60% didactic and 40-50% other teaching methodologies, such as small group tutorials, labs, problem-based learning, team-learning, and web-based formats;
- Student assessment programs that encourage learning and ensure the achievement of the qualities and competencies of humane and well-trained physicians; and a curriculum evaluation system that ensures continual improvement of the curriculum.
I affirm the leadership of the Summit Planning Team, namely the Co-Chairs, Kathryn McMahon, Ph.D., Chair of the Educational Policy Committee, and Lynn Bickley, M.D., Associate Dean for Curriculum. This team will report recommendations from the Educational Summit to the Dean’s Office and the EPC. The EPC will receive the recommendations of the Summit as the recommendations of the faculty and student body for curriculum change, and to make final recommendations to the Dean for the new curriculum and the policy changes needed to achieve that reform.
Sincerely,
Richard V. Homan, M.D.
Vice President for Clinical Affairs
Dean, School of Medicine