Curriculum Development:   Fundamentals of Molecular Medicine

 

Julie M. Tebo, Ph.D.-Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland

 

Introduction

 
The Fundamentals of Molecular Medicine (FMM) course is a component of the first year summer curriculum of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University medical school.  The primary objective of the course is for students to become facile with cell and molecular biology and biochemistry, in order to apply that knowledge to solve clinically relevant questions.  Ancillary to the acquisition of  basic science information, the students will develop skills in small group interactive student-centered learning.  The Fundamentals of Molecular Medicine course is comprised of two sections:  problem solving sessions and focus topic sessions.  The problem solving session will utilize a case-based approach to acquire a foundation in basic cell and molecular biology and biochemistry in an environment similar to problem based learning.  The focus topic sessions will emphasize research and clinical applications of the basic science material through demonstrations of core concepts, use of research tools and demonstrations of physician/patient interactions.

 
Statement of the problem and program objectives
 
The goal of this project is to redesign the Fundamentals of Molecular Medicine course with the following two objectives in mind:
1.  The students will become facile with concepts of cell and molecular biology and biochemistry, in order to apply that knowledge to clinically relevant questions; and
2.  The student will develop skills in small group interactive student-centered learning.
 

 

Description of the project/intervention
 
Fundamentals of Molecular Medicine is a ten week course where the students learn fundamental concepts in cellular and molecular biology and biochemistry.  The course is comprised of the problem solving sessions and focus topic sessions.  During the problem solving sessions, the students answer a question set pertaining to the weekly scientific theme.  The goal of the question sets is to recall the students’ core knowledge of the subject matter as defined by pre-assigned reading, and to apply this knowledge by exploring the topic in further depth.  The format and the objectives of the focus topic sessions are variable; they can be broadly defined as follows:
1. Research frontiers: support and enhance concepts learned in the problem solving sessions.
2. Skill-set development: develop needed skills for lab-based research.
3. Clinical application: strengthen ties between basic knowledge and clinical medicine by patient presentations.
 
 
In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the course, and whether we have accomplished our objectives, the faculty will evaluate the progress of the students by assessing the students’:
•research skills
•reasoning skills,
•interpersonal skills
•work habits
 
The students will assess their peers’ interpersonal skills and work habits .
 
Both assessments will occur at mid-course and at the end of the course.

 

Findings to date/Evaluation to date
 
The redesign of this course was a result of student feedback from FMM  2004.  The summary of the feedback is as follows:
 
•     Give students assigned reading to form the basic knowledge that is required to answer the problem set; limit the reading to approximately one hour per session.
•       Place more emphasis on biochemistry.
•       Clearly state the basic science knowledge that the students should master by the end of the summer.
•       Coordinate all components of the curriculum around a weekly scientific theme.
• Increase integration of physicians into focus topic sessions.
 
 
To date, we have no data on the redesigned curriculum; we anticipate generating data about the students’ competencies at mid-course and the end of the course in the summer of 2005. 
 
 
Key lessons learned so far and next steps
 
•Set clear objectives for the students.
•
•Coordinate assignments for FMM, journal club and lab experiences.
•
•Place emphasis on scientific content.
•
•Integrate the focus topic sessions, problem solving sessions and journal club with the scientific theme of the week.
•
•Continued faculty development is necessary to help faculty teach in a student-centered interactive manner versus lectures.
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•Evaluate student competencies of professionalism, communication, medical knowledge in basic sciences, and personal development.
•
•Make the clinical presentations patient-centered instead of physician-centered.
•
•Have full-time scientific facilitators in each student group.
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•Eliminate the student presentations; use the time allotted for the presentations for additional problem solving time.
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•When breaking up the students into smaller groups, make sure that the faculty are equally competent.
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•Change the focus of the focus topic session previously entitled “gene search”  from being specifically identified as genomics to more broadly encompassing bioinformatics.
 
Questions
 
Is the assessment method sufficient to determine if the various competencies are being met?
 
Is the level of faculty development sufficient to ensure the correct method of presentation?  If not, how do we get faculty to comply?
 
How do we ensure faculty participation when there is no additional compensation or no repercussions if faculty do not participate?