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The Curriculum Committee
is appointed by the Faculty Senate to develop and to supervise the
implementation of the curriculum for medical students.
The functions of the Curriculum
Committee:
- Specify the mission, goals and objectives of the curriculum
and, with these as a guide,
- Nominate of Course Directors
- Oversee scheduling of courses
- Determine educational policies regarding methods of teaching
and evaluation
- Guide development of and support for teaching faculty
Membership is defined by
the Bylaws of the Faculty Senate. The Vice Dean for Academic Affairs
is an ex-officio voting member of the Committee. Student representatives
from each class are nonvoting members. The Chair of the Curriculum
Committee is appointed by the Dean. All appointments to the Curriculum
Committee are for three-year terms which are renewable. The Curriculum
Committee's actions are advisory to the Dean of the School of Medicine
who has ultimate responsibility for the curriculum.
The Curriculum Committee
will meet monthly or as required. Meetings are open to all faculty
members.
Recent
Meetings
The Curriculum Committee
currently has six subcommittees:
- First and Second Year Course Directors. This subcommittee
is charged with integrating the didactic courses in all four
years and coordinating exam schedules and other matters relating
of the first two years.
- Clinical Course Directors. This group is charged
with addressing issues related to the clinical rotations of
third and fourth year students.
- Computer-Assisted Instruction This subcommittee is
charged with evaluating and recommending uses of computer technology
in all aspects of medical school education.
- Evaluation This group will oversee evaluation of
courses, programs, teachers and teaching.
- Faculty development This subcommittee will organize
and manage programs to improve teaching skills.
- Curricular Objectives . This group is charged with
the responsibility of defining our educational mission, goals
and objectives.
All courses are developed
in accord with the academic plan which is defined in terms of institutional
mission, competencies and objectives. The educational programs
should provide a sound, general medical education which would prepare
graduates for the full range of medical careers. The structure of
the curriculum should be governed by the following principles:
- Ample free time for study and preparation of course material.
No more than 25 hours/week of scheduled classtime.
- An emphasis on active rather than passive learning.
Lectures should comprise no more than 50% of the formal curriculum,
no more than 75% in any given course, and no more than three
hours in any given day).
- More student responsibility for learning through greater reliance
on active learning, self-learning and team learning.
- Student exposure to clinical settings throughout the first
two years.
- Clinical correlates in all classes and all exams.
- Integration of course material within and between courses.
- Improving the sequencing of courses and communication among
Course Directors.
- Vertical integration of course material such as in Medicine
in Contemporary Society.
The 2003 LCME review prompted
a review and revision of our institutional educational objectives
and new forms by which PROPOSED COURSES
and EXTANT
COURSES are reviewed and evaluated.
-- Please refer to the Course
Directors Handbook for details
For departmentally-based
courses and clerkships, the Course Directors shall be nominated
by the Department Chair. The nomination is made to the Curriculum
Committee for purposes of review and, if approved, it is transmitted
to the Dean. The Dean shall appoint the Course Director generally
for a term of three years (renewable). Interim Course Directors
are similarly designated. For directors of interdisciplinary courses,
the nomination is made by the Curriculum Committee for approval
by the Dean.
The Course Directors are
responsible for the conduct of the course that is part of the generalist
education that will prepare the students to enter any specialty.
The course should be consistent with the educational objectives
of the Stony Brook University School of Medicine. The course should
emphasize clinical relevancy of the material, small group teaching,
directed independent learning and collaborative interactions with
other students. An evaluation system must be designed in parallel
with the course content and should reflect the nature and guiding
principles of the curriculum.
- Course development in accord with the overall academic objectives
- Communication with other Course Directors regarding integration
of curricular content and examination schedules
- Course organization and scheduling
- Systematic control of supplementary and handout
reading
- Focus on what the generalist physician needs to know and avoiding
excessive memorization of details
- Interact, as needed, with the Directors of courses in other
years to determine content that might be better coordinated.
- Identify a group of faculty that would be utilized as instructors
for your course reassessing all suitable possibilities
- Provide a syllabus which states the course objectives, the academic
guidelines, the methods of remediation and remedial support, course
schedule, the means of evaluation and mechanisms for handling
absences. The syllabus must state a course policy for students
with disabilities, the policy for appeal and remediation, and
the procedure for providing assistance if there is an academic
difficulty. The syllabus may be hard copy or on the CBase.
- Establishing performance standards and grading guides
- Recruitment and orientation of faculty
- Each course must transmit to the Office of Medical Education
within one month of completion of the course, evaluations of the
students indicating Failure, Low Pass, Pass, High Pass, and Honors.
The final transcript will contain only Honors/Pass/Final grades
- The form and content for examinations is at the discretion of
the Course Director. However, all questions used for examinations
shall be newly constructed and should emphasize the understanding
of basic principles and the ability to problem-solve and should
avoid the necessity to recall trivial information. The guidelines
for the number of examinations per course is one examination per
30-50 course hours.
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Supervise the development of Instructional Plans
for each presentation (formal and self-study) including:
- Re-examination of learning objectives
- Instructional methods to be used
- Completion of handout material
- Development of complementary and clearly integrated Web-Based
material, when appropriate
- Self-assessment and review materials
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