1. R. Cameron (Chair of Basic Science Course Directors Subcommittee)- Roger Cameron didn't attend the meeting. Nothing was reported. The February 18th meeting for the Didactic Course Directors had been canceled.

2. J. Sorrento (Chair of Clinical Course Directors Subcommittee)- The Curriculum Committee had been notified that this subcommittee was unable to devise a method for enacting its decision that the Neurology Clerkship be made a mandatory third-year requirement. (The relevant section of the December 2, 2002, minutes were sent to Curriculum Committee members before the March 3 meeting.)

3. A. Jaffe (Evaluation)-The Clinical Course Directors are developing a protocol that will ensure uniform methods of evaluation for every student in each clerkship. Roger Cameron's course, Medical Physiology will be evaluated at the Curriculum Committee meeting of May 5th by Dr. Bronson & Dr. Hayman.

4. R. Barraco (Teaching/Learning Strategies)- In February, T/LS discussed the drafting of a needs assessment survey tool for the proposed faculty development program and a means of incentivizing it along the lines of the GEC, i.e. a Master Teacher's certificate, award, etc. Janice Grackin of CELT has begun drafting such a needs assessment. We hope to have this ready to distribute by spring and to develop such a program with guidance from the needs assessment for the fall.

MOTION: Repeal previous decision to make the Neurology Clerkship a mandatory third year requirement.

ACTION: By a vote 7 in favor, 1 opposed, and 1 abstention, the previous decision to make the Neurology Clerkship a mandatory third year requirement was repealed.

1.Course Evaluation of Medicine Clerkship (D. Tompkins, Director) - L. Chandran, L. Hyman- This is a 12-week course running throughout the year (6 times/year.) There are four hospitals offering the Medicine Clerkship. They are: Stony Brook Hospital, Northport VA Medical Center, Winthrop University Hospital, & NUMC. The sites are selected using a lottery system. There are a fixed number of positions at each site.

Course Evaluation:

• The students evaluate the overall course, attending physicians & individual site experiences. The overall rating of the course has been very good or higher. Dr. Tompkins compiles the student evaluations of the course faculty. The faculty who consistently receive poor evaluations on their teaching skills are not put on the teaching teams and/or will no longer have students rotate through their offices.
  
• The inpatient experiences consistently have very good ratings at all sites; the ICU experience at Stony Brook Hospital is especially well regarded.
  
• The ambulatory experiences were rated better at community preceptor sites then at hospital based ambulatory sites, except for Winthrop University Hospital.
  
• Consistently, the residents as teachers & role models at all the sites received low average ratings.

Changes:

• Since the last review, Stony Brook Hospital has significantly improved the faculty availability for teaching the students.
  
• The teams have been restructured to promote teaching.
  
• Subspecialty conferences are integrated into daily rounds.
  
• Departmental Medical Education Committee has been established & is focusing on students/resident education & faculty development.
  
• Inpatient service is still very busy, but a better balance between clinical demands & teaching has been established.
  
• NUMC has appointed a new head of Medicine. The new leadership is expected to support the educational mission of the hospital.
  
• New voluntary faculty have been added to the teaching roster.
  
• Department of Medicine has several initiatives to improve & retain quality community preceptors. They are: small teaching stipend for some preceptors, inclusion in targeted faculty development programs, & the payment of institutional faculty dues by the department.
  
• A "Learning Contract" is executed on the first day of the rotation between the students & the preceptor to facilitate the learning process. The "Learning Contract" used in the ambulatory areas helps target the educational experience in the short outpatient time.
  
• There is a concerted effort to decrease lecture time & to use case based teaching in the case conferences.

2.Course Evaluation of Cardiovascular System (G. Mallis, Director) - M. Eisenberg, A. Viccellio. Dr. Mallis had been informed that this course would be reviewed at today's meeting but he was not in attendance.

This is a 3-week course given in the early part of the second year. It is given in proximity to the Pulmonary & Renal Systems.

Course Evaluation:

• The Cardiovascular Systems course is highly organized.
  
• The evaluation of the course is done via formal & informal student evaluations, & via assessment of quality of presentations determined by the Course Director.
  
• There is continuous feedback throughout the year with yearly alterations in details of the course.
  
• The course is highly appropriate for the 2nd year students.
  
• There is insufficient administrative and clerical help. Because of this, Dr. Mallis, must spend more time on organizing & other labors not directly promoting the course content.
  
• The syllabus is dated and being replaced by the two textbooks. The two textbooks that are used are: Robbins text for Pathology & Lilly for Pathophysiology; they are excellent.
  
• Learning is assessed, without direct measurement, in small groups & interactive lectures with audience participation. Also, there are frequent individual question & answer sessions. The outcome is measured through the final exam.
  
• Small groups are required, but there are no consequences for lack of attendance. There are "required" preparations for small group sessions, including some case studies & two problem sets.
  
• The grade is based solely on the final exam. The exam is 70 questions that covers all of the topics in the course.

Changes:

• The syllabus is being replaced with two textbooks.
  
• There is insufficient administrative support to do menial tasks.
  
• The entire grade is based on the final exam. There is a recommendation to have two interim quizzes to assure that students adopt regular study habits for the brief, intense duration of the course.
  
• There appears to be insufficient oversight regarding longitudinal learning, integration, & coordination. The curriculum committee should address this at another meeting.

ACTION: The Medicine clerkship is a large, multi-site complex course that is administered very efficiently. Dr. Tompkins is an excellent & dedicated course director.

ACTION: Jack Stern will solicit Dr. Mallis' response to the suggestion that he incorporate interim quizzes.

Place on the agenda for another Curriculum Committee meeting the topic of adequacy of oversight regarding longitudinal learning, integration, & coordination.

• Dr. Ruggiero from LIJ feels that four months of anesthesiology in OMF is equal to the time our medical students spend taking Didactics & Surgery Selective.
  
• The committee feels that if the dental students do not plan to go on for Pediatrics, for example, then it would be okay to shorten their medical school time. They would graduate with the SUNY at Stony Brook School of Medicine and could go on to an internship in General Surgery.
  
• The OMF would continue their fifth year as a General Surgery intern along with 6 months as Senior resident on OMS service.
  
• Their sixth year would be 12 months as Chief resident on OMS service.
  
• If the OMF decide to change their internship to other than General Surgery, they would have to go back to medical school and complete all the missing courses they eliminated previously.

2. New elective in Allergy, Asthma, Clinical Immunology and
Pulmonary Diseases offered by the division of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, Dept. of Medicine & the Division of Allergy & Pulmonary Diseases, Dept. of Pediatrics. The Pre-requisites: satisfactory completion of Medicine & Pediatrics Clerkships. This elective will be offered on a monthly basis throughout the academic year. The duration of the elective is 2 weeks to one month. The number of medical students allowed in each rotation is 1-4. The sites offering the elective are: Stony Brook University Hospital, Northport VA Medical Center, outpatient offices at mod B, Techpark & private practices. The overall grades are Honor/High Pass/Pass/Fail.

3. On the agenda for April 14th meeting, track exposure for cardiology experience through the fourth year of medical school.

ACTION:The motion was approved.

ACTION: The new elective was approved.