Based on the outcome of the February 5
th 1
st
and 2
nd year curriculum retreat, the Curriculum Committee
formulated a new 1st and 2nd year schedule for the revised curriculum
(presumably to start with 2005‑2006). Bob Bloodgood presented the major
features of this schedule, which includes the following points:
1) Start the 1st year 1 week early (beyond the 1 week change
occurring in the Fall of 2004 to accommodate Cells to Society)
2) End the 1st year 2 weeks later
3) Reduce the summer between the 1st and 2nd years from 12 weeks
to 10 weeks (leaving 8 weeks for the summer research program with one
week on each side for vacation)
4) Start the 2nd year at the same time as is currently the
case
5) Add a 4 day weekend (Thurs‑Sun) in the middle of the first
semester of Yr 1 to coincide with an exam period running from
Mon-Wed.
6) Add a second week of vacation in the Spring of Year 1.
A vigorous discussion ensued, not focused on the details of the
schedule per se, but more on the whole curriculum revision that would
expand the period of time for clinical training (including selectives
and the new Basic Science for Careers) by starting the Clerkships two
months earlier and ending the 2
nd year courses two months
early. Claudette Dalton expressed concern about the possible loss
of the one week Preceptorship program in Year 2. She suggested
moving it to year 1 and using one of the proposed vacation weeks for
this activity. Howard Kutchai expressed the concern that there
would be unanticipated negative consequences of the new curriculum. He
expressed concern about whether basic science faculty will buy-in to
the new curriculum changes. Julie Turner objected to
shortening the period of basic sciences and asked us to consider what
sort of final product (in terms of a UVa medical school graduate) we
want to produce. Brian Wispelwey suggested that we could utilize
the time in the Clerkships more efficiently. Virginia Taylor
asked about the advantages of the new curriculum. Bob Bloodgood
suggested that these included: 1) Addition of Cells to Society, 2)
Addition of Basic Science for Careers, 3) addition of clinical
selectives and 4) the ability of students to complete the core
Clerkships and even take some electives before they have to decide on
their career path (ie. Residency applications). The3rd and
4
th year medical student focus group (as well as medical
students on the Foundations and Core Systems D&D Team have argued
that starting the Clerkships earlier gives the students a better
opportunity to solidify their credentials (to include having completed
the Clerkship and an appropriate elective/ACE and even research in the
area) for a particular type of residency program prior to the
residency interviews. Wendy Golden asked for some information
about the planned Basic Science for Careers component and whether it
would transfer any basic science material from Years 1-2 to this time
slot. The Principles of Medicine Committee asked for a
presentation from the D&D Team that is developing the Basic Science
for Careers program. This has now been scheduled for our May
12th meeting and will be give by Vern Juel. In light of more
general concerns about curriculum change, the group present at this
Principles of Medicine Committee meeting decided not to
approve/endorse the set of six specific schedule changes (listed above)
that were proposed by the Curriculum Committee.
