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Development of a Web-based GME Core Curriculum

2000; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 75; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/00001888-200005000-00076

1938-808X

Leslie J. Sandlow, Joseph W. York, William H. Hammett,

Radiology practices and education

Objective: Develop an educational program that meets Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requirements for a regular review of ethical, socioeconomic, medical/legal, and cost-containment issues that affect graduate medical education and medical practice; ensure access and participation in the program by using a medium accessible by residents when in-class meetings are impractical. Description: In 1998 a focus group of program directors, faculty, and residents was assembled at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) College of Medicine to develop a list of topics that meet the ACGME requirements and also cover other relevant areas for residents. A list of nine topics emerged: medical professionalism, organization and financing of the U.S. health care system, health care team management, quality management, health care regulatory systems, evidence-based medicine, teaching and learning skills, practice management, and health care information systems. A tenth topic, clinical and research ethics, was added later. The UIC sponsors 60 different residency programs containing over 1,000 residents at 18 affiliated institutions. Presenting these topics in a classroom format would be logistically difficult. An online format was selected so that residents could choose their own times and places for completing the lesson. Each topic is covered in a separate module. The agreed-upon length for each module is the equivalent of a two- to four-hour workshop, with lecture and discussion. The modules are written by faculty with expertise in the particular topics and are offered for a three-month period each year. The format for each module is a series of readings, supplemented with links to other Web sites of interest. Each session contains cases or short questions for discussions. Residents from different specialties are assigned to groups of 15 for online discussion of questions, which faculty moderate. A final evaluation that is submitted electronically completes the module. Discussion: At this writing, the online core curriculum is in its beginning stages, with the first module available. Faculty report that preparing a course for online presentation requires more time than preparing it for the classroom, because the text must be meticulously organized and written. The challenge of developing a Web-based program is mitigated by the availability of a number of commercial products that provide the capability of “dropping-in” word-processing documents and graphics, as well as student interaction. The other time-consuming task is reading and reacting to residents' online discussion of cases and questions. However, the overall time commitment still appears to be much less than if the same faculty were to present the module to numerous groups of residents face to face. Residency program directors are also given access to the modules and are encouraged to use the cases for further discussions within their own residencies. While these modules are self-contained, we view them more as a point of departure for further exploration and contemplation by residents. In summary, the development of the online core curriculum has met our institution's need to provide ACGME-directed topics to a broad and diverse audience in a cost-effective manner.