Surgery Conference Room, 4:00 p.m.                        

Present (underlined) were: Reid Adams, Eve Bargmann,  Robert Bloodgood,  Anita Clayton,  Gene Corbett, Donald Innes (Chair),  Howard Kutchai, Marcus Martin, Chris Peterson, Jerry Short, Linda Watson,  Bill Wilson, Brian Wispelwey, Nnaemeka Anyadike, Michael Richardson, Debra Reed (secretary) 

1. C2S Endorsed.    With minor revisions, the Curriculum Committee endorsed the new curriculum as outlined in “Cells to Society – A Curriculum for Modern Medicine”. [As of December 19^th all but one member (unable to contact as of today) of the curriculum committee endorses the “Cells to Society” curriculum.]
   
   See websites below:
   
   Cells To Society - A Curriculum for Modern Medicine 2.4 - Summary
   Cells To Society - A Curriculum for Modern Medicine 2.4 – New Cells to Society Elements
   Cells to Society - Schematics Overview
   
   To avoid confusion with Curriculum Objectives, the Objectives section of the document will be changed to “Objectives for Curriculum Change.”
   
   Committee members not in attendance will be polled by e-mail.
   
   
2. Medical Education Advisory Committee.  At the 11/16/04 meeting it was suggested that the proposed Major Diseases of Our Time (MDOT) might better be named Major Illnesses of Our Time (MDIT) to encompass wholeness of patient care. Timing of the course and whether it should be a one week course or a once a month course throughout the second year (and possibly first year) was discussed.  Two possible formats were discussed. One would be as a one-week board review, where several diseases would be discussed in such a manner as to be a review for Step 1. Another possibility is a monthly or starting and mid-semester course in the second year (and possibly first year). Selecting which illnesses qualify as the “major” illnesses of our time will be left to the course director with guidance from the Curriculum Committee.
   
   
3. Focused Review of Practice of Medicine 1 & 2 and Clinical Connections.  In January and February, the Curriculum committee has asked for a review of Practice of Medicine 1 & 2 and the Clinical Connections program. 
   
   John Gazewood has suggested that the patient translator be introduced in one of the Clinical Connection sessions. This could be done in coordination with a Cultural Competency session.  It was suggested that the Transition Course (just prior to clerkships) might be an appropriate place for the patient translation introduction. 
   
   
4. Exploratory Planning Group.  A meeting is being organized for the Exploratory Planning Group in December.   The groups will discuss modifying the Exploratory to return to the original concept of a community service and electives, and to incorporate the clinical experience into PoM1 and 2.
   
   
5. Preceptorship.    Inclusion/placement of the current second year Preceptorship Program in the revised curriculum was discussed.  The Preceptorship program takes place during the annual two week spring break for the second year students (one week preceptorship and one week break) and is a much appreciated motivational experience. In the new curriculum outline, second year classes are completed in March with clerkships beginning in May.  To continue the Preceptorship at the same time would place them too close to the USMLE Step 1 exam and the Clerkship experience to be useful.  At the present time, there is no other two week break in the second year.  It has been suggested that the experience would be equally effective if students could meet with a preceptor one afternoon every other week throughout the second year (and possibly first year).  Questions were raised about the available pool of preceptors locally and the size of the groups (1-2 deemed ideal).  To obtain sufficient numbers of preceptors, the preceptors would not necessarily be family practice or general medicine physicians – specialties and subspecialties might be included for at least part of the experience. .  The issue of rural versus an urban experience was debated. Claudette Dalton, preceptor director, will be invited to the 12/02/04 Curriculum Committee meeting to discuss this further. [Dr. Dalton will attend the December 9^th meeting.]
   
   
6. Town Meeting. (Jerry Short)   A Town Meeting was held on 11/15/04 .  Jerry Short relayed the students’ comments to the Committee. 
   
   Many of the student concerns are similar to those found nationally. Concerns were primarily raised regarding a particular course – choice of faculty and content.  In general concern was expressed about certain faculty who have received poor reviews and have not demonstrated improvement, but are still teaching. Flawed exam questions were also a concern.
   
   In a recent email communication a first year student wrote that she “perceived of a lack ofemphasis on critical thinking, cultural and socioeconomic awareness, and depth of learning beyond mere memorization”.
   
   Students would prefer the course/faculty evaluation process be open longer to allow more reflective comments – especially about individual faculty.
   
   There was discussion regarding disection and prosection in Anatomy with a wide diversity of opinion.
   
   Cells to Society – An Introduction was praised for the diversity of activities and more patient related activities were requested. The students present endorsed the Pass/Fail system, and praised the overall quality of teaching. Fourth years brought perspective to the  evening, expressing general satisfaction and great enthusiasm for their medical education.            The full notes will be made available to members of the committee.
   
   The diversity of opinion was striking and reflects the range of learning styles and background of the students. Students are transitioning from the college learning environment of memorization to an adult form of learning. This transition is part of the natural process of education. An example of diversity of educational background is that some students have had biochemistry, while others are humanities majors. Both are needed. -DJI
   
   
7. The next meeting of the Curriculum Committee will be Thursday, December 2, 2004 .   Please send agenda items to DJI.  Future agenda items will include a demonstration of the University of Washington Bedside Teaching Program by Dr. Short and an update on the Building Committee progress by Dr. Bloodgood.

Donald Innes/dmr