The total revamping of the KU School of Medicine’s curriculum was a much different experience. If other universities making curriculum changes have endured the equivalent of governmental regime change – and its accompanying confusion, disarray, and managerial uncertainty – then the KU Medical Center’s transition is the closest approximation of a smooth and efficient revolution.

“The curriculum changes were percolating over the years, because we were not as innovative as we wanted to be,” said Giulia Bonaminio, PhD, associate dean for medical education. “Faculty members traveled to schools all over the country, and we picked out parts of other institutions’ programs that worked best for us.”

The new curriculum, which was implemented two years ago, takes a streamlined approach to medical education. The previous curriculum more closely resembled a college-level plan, with students taking multiple courses simultaneously and being evaluated on multiple subjects in a narrow window of time. By sharp contrast, the revised curriculum presents subjects in one module at a time, and students must complete an evaluation on that subject before progressing to the next.

For example, first-year medical students start their new education with eight weeks in Foundations of Medicine, four weeks in Genetics and Neoplasia, and four weeks in Inflammation and Immunity. They complete the exams for each subject before moving on to the next, and focus entirely on the module at hand for maximum immersion in the subject matter. This allows students to take a holistic view of each body system, which will ideally prepare a new kind of physician to confront the challenges of tomorrow’s medicine.

“It makes much more sense to learn in broad and all-encompassing modules devoted to one system,” first-year medical student Samantha Machen said. “It’s much harder to fall behind when you only have to worry about one test at a time.”

The goal of the redesigned curriculum, of course, is not solely to provide more convenient evaluations for students coping with an immense volume of information – though most students agree that is a great fringe benefit. The primary purpose of the new curriculum is to present the material in a more modern and sensible way.

The aim is to encourage close work and collaboration between students in small groups. It’s a change that first-year medical student Andrew Pirotte appreciates.

“This approach forms a better road map through the material, and it makes it more enjoyable to go through all these new subjects,” Pirotte said. “They’re putting things together instead of throwing things at us and having us make the connections on our own.”

By emphasizing small group work and hands-on experience, the new curriculum aims to reduce the amount of time spent in lecture halls and increase the time devoted to activities that are more likely to help students understand and retain the material.

“With the modular structure, they learn medicine one piece at a time,” Dr. Bonaminio said. “We also wanted to add more clinician involvement, and now all the problem-based learning groups are led by clinicians, who serve as co-modular leaders.”

A major component of the new curriculum, if not the foundational element, is the increased emphasis on technology. All incoming medical students are given tablet PC laptop computers, which allow students to access all of their textbooks online, store information from year to year and add to their professors’ presentations or notes.

“It’s an organizational freak’s dream,” Machen says of the paperless system. “It has all the PowerPoints and notes, and you can download all the lectures for your classes and make notes on the screen.”

The switch to computer-based learning, Dr. Bonaminio said, was not without some initial technological glitches, but it was greeted with an overwhelmingly positive response from students and faculty.

“The students take all their tests online, and they have an electronic drop box for their homework,” she said. “We make continuous quality improvements to the system based on recommendations from the students.”

New technology can have its drawbacks, though. Just ask Pirotte and he'll tell you as he peers over the top of his newly acquired reading glasses. +