Carle Illinois College of Medicine

Curricular Updates

Foundational Sciences

 

  • Added 4 new electives (Advanced Anatomy, Advanced Anatomy for Teaching, Exploring Anatomy through the Virtual Lens; Pathophysiology, Pathology Literature Review, Addiction Medicine)

  • Realigned Infection and Immunity course content with other courses

  • Added new integrated sessions in Foundational Sciences courses in Foundations (Immunology and Physiology integrated session), CV (physiology & pharmacology multidisciplinary session, cardiac cycle, normal pressure volume loops & antihypertensives AND integrated learning session on hemostasis/Thrombosis/antiplatelets); and Renal (pathophysiology of cystic fibrosis)

  • Added new threads incorporating behavioral sciences content

  • Added patient panels to CV and Renal courses

  • Added new electives: Social Medicine and the Normative Body (2022); Interreligious perspectives on health & medicine (2022); Climate Change, Planetary Health and Sustainability (2022); Health Systems Leadership (2022); Healthcare Process Management (2022); Advanced Clinical & Professional Identity (2022); Introduction to Research (2023); Network Science for Health and Social Care (2024); Applied Bioinformatics (2024); Intro to Health System Science (2024)

  • Added formative assessments to each anatomy week

  • Added section to website featuring faculty projects available for student participation

  • Assessments changed to include end of course exams and mid-term exams (for courses longer than 6 weeks). This provides the opportunity to have more frequent, lower-stakes assessments to aid in long-term learning. 

  • Anatomy: Created online dissection guides with images

  • Created "Online Pharmacology Concept Map" for all courses "PRORENATA" a web-faced interface for integration and alignment of pharmacological concepts to enhance a problem-based learning preclinical curriculum. Created by a group of students and faculty.

  • Added PhD in Biochemistry as Foundations Course lead course director

  • Added PhD in Microbiology and two PhDs in pharmacology to faculty

  • Added new electives: Microbiomes Matter: The Path to Regenerative Systems of Farm, Food and Health in the Age of Climate Change (2023)

  • Created "Online Pharmacology Concept Map" for all courses "PRORENATA" a web-faced interface for integration and alignment of pharmacological concepts to enhance a problem-based learning preclinical curriculum. Created by a group of students and faculty

  • Offered a series of Epidemiology sessions to the Foundations course.

  • Modified Immunology session objectives across Foundational Sciences to facilitate building of educational knowledge.

  • Allocated a week of course content for skin conditions & physiology

  • Readiness Assurance Tests (RAT) have been created to be completed by the students prior to the start of each week. This has been done to motivate students to study appropriate foundational mski material.

  • Included more interactive learning experiences: orthopedic mini cases, biological drugs, steroids/anti-inflammatories, skin min cases, connective tissue mini cases.

  • Expanded the anatomy ethics discussion during the Foundations course

  • Added session on Bioethical considerations in Cardiac Disease to CV

  • Added more content and core concepts covered in the Cardiovascular and Respiratory courses to the facilitator notes.

  • Integrated 3 Interprofessional Experiences (IPE) throughout the Foundational Sciences curriculum. Sent surveys out to students to get their satisfaction from the activities and to gauge how they feel they are currently working with different professions.

  • Added new interdisciplinary active learning sessions to CV; Added simulations to CV, Respiratory & Renal; Added Community Health Experience module; Added escape rooms in CV, Respiratory & Renal; Added patient panel in Renal. 

  • Added simulation workshops into CV, Respiratory, and Renal
  • Seven faculty members were named as discipline leads so content in their respective fields is better integrated across the organ system courses.

  • Learning sessions in organ system courses were all evaluated for educational level to ensure that advanced topics are preceded by  foundational knowledge.

  • Collaboration between Course Directors and Specialized teaching faculty and who facilitate the BiCEP sessions to review and improve the cases and small group sessions to enhance their clinical relevance.

  • Reorganized BICEP sessions to be twice a week from three times a week. Each organ system course will begin with a week of foundational topics and information from BICEP cases will be integrated across ICP and BICEP sessions.

Clinical Sciences

 

  • Aligned clinical skill educational activities with other courses

  • Created Standardized educational slide deck for all Physical Diagnosis Facilitators

  • Standardized physical exam checklist for each organ system

  • Formative assessments added to the end of every course

  • Added new electives: Intro to ambulatory cardiology (2022); Gastroenterology (2022); Outpatient psychiatry (2022); Consult & Liaison psychiatry (2022); Outpatient, Consult & Liaison Psychiatry (2022); Pediatric Pulmonology (2022); Pediatric Cardiology (2022); Intro to Ophthalmology (2023); ACLS Simulation & Clinical Immersion (2023); Inpatient Psychiatry (2023)

  • Added sub-internships in Family Medicine, Inpatient Psychiatry, Urology

  • Improved guidance in content covered on OSCEs

  • Continued faculty development on improving feedback and teaching skills.

  • Expanded OSCE related feedback and ensuring that those that provide mid clerkship feedback have the information from the clinicians working directly with the students on their clerkships.

  • Implement opt in elective OSCEs.

  • Added IV training and procedures video link on the clerkship page. Will continue to add other modules students find relevant to prepare for clerkships.

  • Family Medicine clerkship moved to the Immersion Clerkship year.

Monitoring Student Time

 

  • New workload and clinical duty hour policies were created and approved.

  • Reduction in the number of learning issues required per week during BICEP and moved content around to even out the weekly workload especially during exam weeks.

  • Moved the Family Medicine clerkship out of the semester before Step 1

  • Clarification and education of what self-directed learning is vs independent learning.

  • Reduced workload by decreasing the number of assignments associated with PBL sessions.

Additional Curricular Updates

 

  • Hired a Director of Curricular Operations to ensure quality of curriculum implementation and operations.

  • Displays were installed at CIMED locations with the Core Competencies and Medical Educational Program Objectives.

  • Course Directors were tasked to show the linage of the MD programs core competencies and objectives with course objectives.

  • Syllabi now show how course objectives map to the core competencies and objectives of the MD program.