Curriculum

Curriculum Management Unit

The Curriculum Management Unit (CMU) is an integrated administrative unit that is responsible for managing all aspects of the MD program’s curriculum.
The CMU has the following responsibilities:

Oversee the curriculum as a whole and have responsibility for the overall design, management, integration, evaluation, and enhancement of a coherent and coordinated medical curriculum.
Capturing and documenting learning objectives of the MD Curriculum. The work that we do supports accreditation and curriculum renewal projects.
Maintaining an accurate and up-to-date curriculum management system which permits Deans, faculty members, students and administrators to search MD undergraduate program curricular content and learning objectives in a transparent and user friendly manner.
Leading the establishment of standardized, consistent curricular vocabulary and measurable objectives for the MD curriculum.
Performing searches of the curricular map content for key stakeholders, utilizing appropriate mapping descriptors or search terms.
Providing leadership to ensure best practices in curriculum mapping and management occur throughout the MD Program.
Ensuring all teaching sessions in the MD curriculum link to the program level objectives of the MD program (the competencies required of graduates).
Facilitating curriculum planning by compiling and presenting evidence which helps identify unintended curriculum deficiencies and redundancy, and make recommendations on resolution.
Performing annual review of curricular data for each session in the MD program and providing curricular information as requested to demonstrate compliance with the CACMS accreditation standards.
Supporting the MD Curriculum and Program Committee (MDCPC) and its subcommittees by responding to identified needs and providing reports and recommendations ready for discussion and approval.
Providing oversight of the Curriculum Working Groups, held every other year for expert review on the content, format and learning objectives of each course.
Collaborating with the Program Evaluation Unit to prepare for and respond to annual course review meetings between the Associate Dean MD program, Assistant Dean Curriculum, course coordinator, and student curriculum reps.
Utilizing new or existing technology and software resources to help minimize duplication of effort, reduce errors and contain costs.
Providing faculty with information that describes the spiraling of key concepts across the 4 year MD curriculum. This information will assist teachers to present educational content which is most appropriate to students’ level of learning.
Providing educational support to faculty, administrators and other stakeholders on the use of curriculum management tools.
Tracking the follow-up and completion of curriculum related actions emerging from accreditation and strategic planning.
Creating a difficulty index for each course based on the level of difficulty of the Course Learning Objectives (Method from Brabrand & Dahl, 2009).

The CMU is concerned with:

WHAT is taught (the content, areas of expertise and the learning objectives)
HOW it is taught (the learning resources, delivery of content and learning opportunities)
HOW the delivery of the learning objectives is scaffolded throughout the program and throughout each course
HOW the learning objectives are assessed
WHEN it is taught (the timetable and curriculum sequence)

The Curriculum Management Unit is led by the Team Lead, Curriculum, supported by a Curriculum Planning Specialist and Curriculum Administrative Assistants.

Reporting Structure

The Curriculum Management Unit reports to the Associate Dean, MD Program, Assistant Dean Curriculum and the MD Curriculum & Program Committee (MDCPC) and collaborates with:

Program Evaluation Unit
Sub-Committees of MDCPC (e.g. Pre-Clerkship Coordinators Committee, Clerkship Coordinators Committee, Course Evaluation and Working Groups)
Other committees (e.g. Assessment Committee)
Pre-clerkship, Longitudinal Themes, Learning Science and Clerkship Directors, Course Coordinators and Students

Approach to Curriculum Planning and Management

MD Program Curriculum:

Is transparent
Is easy to understand
Is feedback-driven and evidence-based
Ensures curriculum analysis is valid and reliable
Ensures curriculum information is available in a timely manner to the appropriate stakeholders
Supports continuous quality improvement processes
Is collaborative
Values student involvement and input

Key Responsibilities of the Curriculum Management Unit

The Curriculum Management Unit is responsible for all aspects of planning and analyzing of the MD program curriculum, including learning objectives related to the program level objectives, course and session level objectives, assessment analysis and curriculum-related strategic initiatives as defined by MDCPC (including the 2022-2027 strategic plan), and curriculum mapping.

Specific responsibilities include:

Development, monitoring and review of learning objectives to ensure the consistency; to consider new and innovative curriculum management methods and establish appropriate mechanisms to improve curriculum; and to monitor curriculum policies and practices to ensure consistency with evidence from the literature.
Gathering and analysis of curriculum mapping data.
Presentation of collected curriculum data to inform relevant stakeholders about objectives and areas of improvement.
Gathering, analysis, and presentation of curriculum data related to CACMS accreditation standards.
Collaborating with the Program Evaluation Unit and the Curriculum Delivery team to ensure data are collected, analyzed, and presented to support decisions about the curriculum.
Reviewing and presenting various data related to the Program Level Objectives to ensure overall program effectiveness.