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University of Virginia School of Medicine
Curriculum Committee
Minutes
03.06.03
Pediatric Pathology Conference Room, 4:00 pm
Present (underlined) were: Reid Adams, Robert
Bloodgood, Anita Clayton, Lisa Coray, Gene Corbett,
Donald Innes (Chair), Vern Juel, Howard Kutchai,
Jerry Short, Nikhil Rao, Bill Wilson, Brian
Wispelwey, Ryan Zaklin, Debra Reed (secretary)
- Intellectual Honesty. HK cited a recent article studying
undergraduate education that revealed ~27% of undergraduates observed
cheating and ~95% of those who observed cheating did not report it.
Some thought this might be because of the single sanction rule which
allows no differentiation in the extent of the cheating incident.
Whether this is also true in the Medical School was debated. At
present, students are given alternative sites to take exams but exams
are not proctored. Some members questioned whether we are "putting
temptation" in front of our students, making it easy to cheat. The
University of Virginia Honor Code does not delineate examination policy
- the professor or course director is responsible for setting the rules
for each examination. Others questioned whether students who are by and
large honest and trustworthy be penalized by restrictions imposed to
discourage cheating by the minority of students. It is anticipated that
implementation of P/F next year will decrease medical student stress
and in turn, some of the pressure to cheat. The issue is one of
professionalism. How can we better prepare our students for the
responsibilities of medical practice? The Committee expressed an
interest in meeting with Professor Pat Werhane who is exploring
approaches to similar professional issues in the Darden School.
- Faculty and department reward and accountability for the
core mission of medical education was discussed. The interplay of
teaching, research and clinical responsibilities is difficult to
balance for faculty and departments. Reemphasis and clarification of
the teaching mission as a core responsibility of departments and
faculty is needed. In addition, faculty and departments need
clarification of the funding mechanism for the teaching mission and a
working method of accountibility.
Don Innes
-dmr
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