College of Veterinary Medicine

1. Curriculum Review Update Margaret V. Root Kustritz, DVM, PhD, DACT Professor, Vice-chair, Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Assistant Dean of Education • OVERARCHING GOALS • Meet accreditation standards • Ensure changes are cost-effective or justified • - Stimulate clinical reasoning / problem-solving / decision-making, promote retention with emphasis on day 1 knowledge and abilities and relevant assessments • - Provide opportunities (faculty development and time in schedule) for active learning, critical thinking and hands-on (laboratory, external opportunities) • - Optimize content • - Core versus elective • - Medical versus non-medical • - Consider placement of material within courses and courses within semester and curriculum, with attention to vertical integration (medical and non-medical content) and conscious redundancy • - Health promotion and disease prevention in curriculum • Build on existing strengths • Build in checks/balances system to develop, adjust and maintain structure • FUTURE WORK • - Mapping of curriculum • - Refining of 3rd year spring and elective courses by faculty specific to tracks • - Implementation goals – active learning, teaching methodologies, determination of core content • - Outcomes assessment • CURRICULUM REVIEW BOARD • - John Fetrow (VPM) • Erin Malone (VPM) • Dan Feeney (VCS) • Mike Conzemius (VCS) • Jim Mickelson (VBS) • Dave Brown (VBS) • Peggy Root (VCS and Assistant Dean of Education) • GOALS – With this curriculum review, the College will: • - create graduates with entry-level competence and confidence and provide the scientific foundation required for acquisition of discipline or species expertise, including an emphasis on critical thinking that integrates basic science and clinical learning, and appropriate understanding and use of the veterinary literature. • - create graduates interested in and capable of career paths outside of • practice. • - decrease cost of curriculum delivery. • WORK COMPLETED TO DATE • - Finalization of a plan of work with duties, identification of internal and external constituent groups, and timelines • - Identification of a dedicated space for curriculum revision meetings and setting of a schedule for regular meetings • - Gathering of information from other schools of veterinary medicine that have recently completed curriculum revision regarding process, pitfalls, successes • - Solicitation from faculty of their impressions of the former curriculum and the current curriculum • - Facilitation of a conversation and brainstorming session about curriculum review with college educators; this will be repeated monthly • - Collection of information from veterinary practitioners regarding competencies expected of newly graduated veterinarians by species track • - Provision of faculty with requested resources including pre-requisites of the College; the final report from the North American Veterinary Medical Education Consortium; information about the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination, which is taken by all practitioners; American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education accreditation standards for curriculum • - Comprehensive evaluation of track requirements for the final year of the curriculum and faculty approval of those track recommendations • - Evaluation of ways to streamline rotation offerings in the final year of the curriculum • - Solicitation of input from faculty, staff, students, and outside constituents to determine overarching goals to guide review of the early part of the curriculum • - External review of our curriculum review process by an educational specialist • Work with the CFO and accounting groups to determine costs of education by course • Creation of a draft curriculum and meetings with faculty groups to determine course structure, core content, sequencing, and estimate of student workload. • Acceptance of draft curriculum by faculty vote Specifics of work in progress can be found at the blog entitled “UMN CVM Curriculum Review 2011” (http://blog.lib.umn.edu/rootk001/myblog). UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA College of Veterinary Medicine