The Curriculum Committee of the School of Medicine is responsible for defining the goals and objectives of the curriculum; for the design, management, and evaluation of the undergraduate medical curriculum in accordance with the accreditation requirements of the LCME and the mission and vision of the School of Medicine.

The Committee is responsible for establishing a process for reviewing, evaluating, and revising the curriculum on a recurring timeline to ensure that the curriculum is coherent, coordinated, current, and effective.

In addition, the Committee is responsible for making recommendations to the Dean about the system of incentives for teaching effort, salary support for faculty who teach, teaching space required by the curriculum design, and other support requirements needed to make the curriculum operational.

The Committee has the authority, with the approval of the Dean, to set educational objectives, establish educational requirements, allocate curriculum time, specify teaching methods, select course directors, and evaluate educational outcomes.

In addition, the Committee has the authority to set performance standards for instructors, initiate faculty development efforts, and evaluate instructor performance.

CURRICULUM COMMITTEE

The Committee is comprised of a minimum of six and no more than nine at-large faculty members and two student members. Term for at-large faculty is three years, with one consecutive renewal. Three at-large members are elected from the general medical faculty by the School of Medicine representatives of the Faculty Senate to assure direct faculty participation and a broad faculty perspective to the decision-making process, independent of departmental or central administration points of view. The remaining at-large faculty members are selected for their sustained interest and activity in medical education and for their independent points of view. The at-large faculty members should include a Generalist Physician and a Basic Scientist. Of the two student members, one shall be a representative of the Mulholland Society and one of the Student Medical Education Committee. The remaining members of the committee are members by virtue of their position:

Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education (Chair)
Assistant Dean for Clinical Skills Education
Clinical Performance Development Director
Education Technology Support Director
Chair, Pre-clerkship Committee*
Chair, Clerkship/Post-clerkship Committee*
Chair, Thread Leaders Committee*
Associate Dean for Medical Education Research and Instruction, ex-officio
Associate Dean and Director Health Sciences Library, ex-officio

*Elected from and by the membership of the respective committees.

All Committee members are expected to contribute to the Committee's activities; attend at least 2/3 of regular meetings. While the Pre-clerkship Leadership and Clerkship/Post-clerkship committee members represent their disciplines and focus on basic science and clinical education, service on the Curriculum Committee requires a primary commitment to the general well being and advancement of medical education at UVA. The members elected from the General Faculty should have a demonstrated interest in undergraduate medical education and be willing and able to serve on the Curriculum Committee. Regular meetings are scheduled for the first and third Thursdays of each month. Meeting minutes are posted on the public Curriculum web site and sent directly to members and the Dean’s office. - 04.27.2012

Executive Management Group of the Curriculum Committee

The Executive Management Group of the Curriculum Committee is to initiate, develop and lead action plans ensuring implementation of policies through the Curriculum Committee, e.g. guide the development of new initiatives based on curriculum evaluation. The Executive Management Group of the Curriculum Committee is responsible for the day-to-day operational management of the curriculum, e.g. taking timely action on issues requiring immediate attention. Meetings are scheduled weekly.

The members of the Executive Management Group of the Curriculum Committee are selected from the Curriculum Committee by virtue of position:

Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education
Associate Dean for Medical Education Research and Instruction
Assistant Dean for Clinical Skills Education
Clinical Performance Development Director
Generalist Physician with a focus in Medical Education
Basic Scientist with a focus in Medical Education
Physician at large with a focus in Medical Education

Pre-clerkship Committee

The Pre-clerkship Leadership Committee is responsible to the Curriculum Committee and Dean for effecting the goals, objectives and teaching responsibilities of the curriculum for each course; for maintaining an organized schedule of teaching activities, and for coordinating exams and evaluations. The Chair of the Pre-clerkship Leadership Committee is elected from the MCM Leaders, System Leaders or Clinical Performance Development Leaders of the Pre-clerkship Leadership Committee with the approval of the Curriculum Committee. Co-chairs from basic science and clinical disciplines are encouraged. Chair terms rotate and are for three years. Regular monthly meetings are scheduled and minutes are posted on the public Curriculum web site.

Pre-clerkship Committee
Cells to Society Leader
MCM Leaders
System Leaders
Assistant System Leader
Social Issues in Medicine Leader
Clinical Performance Development-1Leader(s)
Thread Leaders Committee, Chair
Clinical Performance Development-2 Leader, ex-officio
Clinical Performance Development-3 (electives) Leader, ex-officio
Director MD/Ph.D. program, ex-officio
Students (1 each from pre-clerkship, clerkship, and post-clerkship periods)
Associate Dean for UME, ex-officio
Associate Dean for Medical Education Research and Instruction, ex-officio
College Dean Representative, ex-officio
Student Affairs Representative, ex-officio
Director of Education Technology Support, ex-officio

All Pre-clerkship Committee members are expected to contribute to the Committee's activities; attend at least 2/3 of regular meetings. Appointments are for three years, renewable terms.

Clerkship/Post-clerkship Committee

The Clerkship/Post-clerkship Committee is responsible to the Curriculum Committee and Dean for effecting the goals, objectives and teaching responsibilities of the curriculum for each clerkship and for the electives program; for maintaining an organized schedule of teaching activities and for coordinating student evaluations. The Chair of the Clerkship/Post-clerkship Committee is elected from the clerkship directors with the approval of the Curriculum Committee. Chair terms rotate and are for three years.

Clerkship/Post-clerkship Committee
Clerkship Directors
Director Elective Programs (Clinical Performance Development-3 Leader)
Clinical Performance Development-2 Leader
Thread Leaders Committee, Chair
Clinical Performance Development -1 Leaders, ex-officio
Students (1 each from clerkship and post-clerkship periods)
Associate Dean for UME, ex-officio
Associate Dean for Medical Education Research and Instruction, ex-officio
College Dean Representative, ex-officio
Student Affairs Representative, ex-officio


All Clerkship/Post-clerkship Committee members are expected to contribute to the Committee's activities; attend at least 2/3 of regular meetings. Appointments are for three years, renewable terms. Regular monthly meetings are scheduled and minutes are posted on the public Curriculum web site.

Thread Leaders Committee

The Thread Leaders Committee is responsible to the Curriculum Committee and Dean. Thread Leaders assist the Systems Leaders in establishing the goals, learning objectives, and teaching and learning methods for their subject discipline through the medical curriculum. Thread Leaders aid in the operation and administration of their discipline components and are charged with actively supporting curricular innovation and improvement and with providing content material that ensures each educational unit, e.g. system, clerkship, etc., achieves its aims. Appointments are for three years, renewable terms. The Chair of the Thread Leaders Committee is elected from the Thread Leaders with the approval of the Curriculum Committee. Chair terms rotate and are for three years. Biannual meetings are scheduled with invited System Leadership teams and minutes are posted on the public Curriculum web site.

Notes:

The System and CPD leaders are responsible to the respective Pre-clerkship and Clinical Medicine Committees for effecting the teaching and student evaluation responsibilities of the individual program; assuring student mastery of material; recommendation for promotion and remediation efforts.

System, CPD and Thread leaders are selected through a nomination process with an accompanying curriculum vitae and letter(s) from the candidate’s department chair and/or designee, e.g. Division Head. The Curriculum Committee will evaluate the nominations and interview select candidates. The Curriculum Committee's selection will be reviewed with the Chair.

A quorum for the Curriculum Committee, Executive Management Group of the Curriculum Committee, Pre-clerkship Leadership Committee, Clerkship/Post-clerkship Committee, and Thread Leaders Committee shall be constituted when a majority of voting faculty members is present.

Approved 11.09.1999 by Dean Robert Carey

Updated and Reviewed 09.27.2007 - approved by Dean Sharon Hostler
Updated and Reviewed 05.09.2012 - approved by Dean Steven T. DeKosky
Updated and Reviewed 02.06.2013 - approved by Dean Steven T. DeKosky