2. Curriculum Development for Medical Education: A Six Step Approach Section 2 : Identification of learner needs  David Kern Patricia Thomas Donna Howard Eric Bass John Hopkins University Press, 1998

3. Identification of the learner  This is the specific group of learners who would best contribute to the solution  Example: residents who will be rotating through the pain service this year

4. Prioritize the content and needs  What content is most needed?  What content is already attained by learners ?  What resources are available for assisting in teaching ?  What barriers could exist to teaching the content ?

5. General Considerations for Needs Assessments  How much time can I spend identifying the needs of the learners ?  Example : I could use pretests of knowledge, questionnaires, focus groups, individual interviews or extended observations (ranging for short time requirements to long)

6. Example  Your resident can not perform a comprehensive neuropsychiatric evaluation of the new patient patient.  The resident knows and performs an adequate medical history and PE  We have 2 psychologists on staff, and there are available psychiatrists and neurologists at the medical center  The residents do not think that neuropyshc exams are of great importance in her practice of pain medicine and should be left to other specialties as consults

7. Key Observation  We still have not talked about Goals and Objectives. These come directly from the completed needs assessment.

8. Exercise 2  Identify 1 specific need of one specific group of learners in your practice  What content is needed most?  What content have they already attained ?  What resources are available to me?  What barriers might crop up ?