Student Handbook

Electives - Medical Education

Medical Education Curriculum/Instructional Design Teaching Elective

Elective Number: 3414 (arranged) - Must be scheduled at least two weeks in advance

Rotation Supervisor: Casey White

Prerequisite: At least two weeks in advance, submit a preliminary proposal to Dr. White. No elective credit can be awarded until the plan is approved.

Evaluation should be given to: Casey White

Duration: Maximum 8 weeks, Minimum 2 weeks

Available: all rotations
This elective is not available to visiting students

Report to: Casey White

Place to report: TBA

Typical day: TBA

Attendance: Attendance at elective activities is mandatory.

Anyone who is ill or has a personal or family emergency must contact Student Affairs and the Attending on Service.
Students are allowed to take off up to 1 day per week to interview between November 1 and February 1.
Specific days missed must be approved by the Attending on Service.

Number of students per rotation: 4

Course Description:

The goals and objectives of this elective are to:
1. Conduct a comprehensive literature search on current educational methods and choose at least 5 particularly relevant to medical education. Articles should describe methods such as writing learning objectives, case writing, team-based learning, assessment of knowledge and assessment of clinical skills. Synthesize your findings and application(s) to medical education with teaching faculty. (Students to do a formal presentation to the curriculum committee, more demanding)

2. Make specific, evidence-based recommendations about how to assess and improve medical student education.

3. Assist medical students in the pre-clerkship curriculum to gain valuable teaching experience.

4. Develop a work that is considered to be educational scholarship.

5. Write a minimum of five one-best-answer multiple choice questions that meet the basic rules of one-best-answer items as described in the NBME Constructing Written Test Questions For the Basic and Clinical Sciences, ed.3. http://www.nbme.org/pdf/itemwriting_2003/2003iwgwhole.pdf

At least two weeks in advance of the start of the elective period, the student must develop a brief proposal (~ 250 words) describing their project.

The proposal must be developed with the help of Dr. White as well as a content-expert faculty advisor and will include all of the following elements:

the purpose of the project (e.g. generation or improvement of Learning Objectives),
a description of the final “product” that the student will create, and
an objective measure by which the success of the product will be determined (e.g. one case, 15 page handout).

At the conclusion of the elective, the student’s final product will be presented to their advisor and Dr. White for acceptance according to the standards outlined in the original proposal.

The experience will be tailored to the specific interests of the individual student and may include a combination of activities:

Curriculum Development & Assessment - may include but is not limited to:
development of new and/or revision of old Web page material,
reviewing and/or revising handouts, assessing handouts/lab manuals,
drafting review material,
preparing and/or revising case studies or Team-Based Learning exercises
promoting integration of basic science and clinical matters throughout the four years of the curriculum
evaluation studies of the curriculum

Teaching - may include but is not limited to:
laboratory teaching,
group tutorial session, e.g. conducting exam review sessions
assisting with learning studio exercises, e.g. small group work, TBL.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the key components of integrated course design as defined by L. Dee Fink. (See readings.)

2. Use the five key questions (D. Lee Fink) that need to be answered to design a learning experience in an example (or in your project).

3. Compare passive and active learning using the terms receiving, experiencing and reflecting.

4. Describe the steps in integrated course design to create a thematic structure. (See D. Lee Fink, pages 128-129.)

5. Define scientific teaching. (See Handelsman.)

6. Write a minimum of five one-best-answer multiple choice questions that meet the basic rules of one-best-answer items as described in the NBME Constructing Written Test Questions For the Basic and Clinical Sciences, ed.3. http://www.nbme.org/pdf/itemwriting_2003/2003iwgwhole.pdf

Students who participate in this elective are eligible for the Medical Science Teaching Award

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