1. What is a Planned Curriculum?
Ambulatory Pediatric Association Educational Guidelines for Pediatric Residency Tutorial 1
What is a
Planned Curriculum?
Source: Kittredge, D., Baldwin, C. D., Bar-on, M. E., Beach, P. S., Trimm, R. F. (Eds.). (2004). APA Educational Guidelines for Pediatric Residency. Ambulatory Pediatric Association Website. Available online: ©2004 Ambulatory Pediatrics Association. All Rights Reserved. 

2. Why do we need planned curricula for resident education?
Educational planning can:
Focus learning experiences on long-range professional and patient needs.
Allow consistent teaching around rationally selected goals.
Help residents build knowledge and skills systematically over time.

3. Why do we need planned curricula for resident education?
Educational planning can also:
Coordinate the teaching of multiple faculty in different settings.
Allow fair evaluations of learners, based on clearly stated criteria.
Make more efficient use of limited time and resources.
Facilitate change (e.g., compliance with new RRC requirements).

4. So what is a planned curriculum?

5. Broad Educational Goals
Model of a
Typical Curriculum
Broad Educational Goals
Specific
Objectives
Learner Needs
This is a model of a the structure behind a curriculum.
Goals and specific objectives drive the development of didactic, interactive, and experiential learning experiences that enable learners to accomplish the goals
Evaluation is performance-based and directly related to outcomes desired (as defined by goals/objectives)
Feedback processes help learners meet the goals and objectives
The evaluation process documents that learners have accomplished goals (and guides program improvement)
Evaluation & Feedback
Methods
Learning
Experiences

6. Key Definitions
Goals are broad statements of what you want the learner to be able to do at the end of a rotation or training.
Objectives describe measurable behaviors that the learners should be able to demonstrate at the end of an educational intervention.

7. Community Needs/Outcomes
ACGME Competency Domains
Learning
Experiences
Evaluation
& Feedback
Methods
Specific
Objectives
Broad Educational Goals
Learner Needs
Verification
of Specific Competencies
Competencies needed for professional tasks drive the selection of goals and specific objectives.
The requirement to verify competencies also affects the way programs evaluate residents.
Ultimately, the ACGME Outcomes Project intends to change community outcomes by improving the preparation of pediatricians to deliver high quality patient care in the community.

8. Competency-based curriculum: What’s different?

9. Key Definitions
Competency: A complex set of measurable or observable behaviors built on the components of knowledge, skills and attitudes, that together define the professional role of the physician
Competency Domain: A very broad area of professional competence that encompasses many sub-competencies (aka goals/objectives)

10. What is a competency-based curriculum?
Competency-based curricula allow programs to demonstrate competence of graduates in accordance with desired outcomes (as defined by program’s goals/objectives).
The 6 ACGME “competencies” are really competency domains because they are so broad: they can guide performance evaluations, but are not specific enough to enable measurement. CB

11. Competency-based curricula focus on performance
Implementing a competency-based curriculum requires performance-based evaluation methods that focus on observable, measurable behaviors (as defined by objectives). CB

12. Your key challenge
Translate ACGME broad competency domains into practical units of learning, such as goals and objectives, that can be evaluated.

13. Careful evaluation is the key
CBE gathers data on learner competence using pre-defined, observable and measurable indicators.
Formative evaluation should be timely and practical to guide the learner toward success
Summative evaluation data should provide valid documentation that learning objectives have been achieved.
Reliable evaluation requires multiple measures of performance, documented by multiple observers. CB

14. What else makes CBE work?
Evaluation should be planned program-wide.
Evaluators need to understand the principles and the process.
An effective program shares learning objectives with learners, provides timely and supportive feedback, and helps learners track their progress toward meeting objectives.

15. And what is the purpose behind it all?
Improved medical education
Improved physicians’ competence
Improved community health
The ultimate goal is to make
the medical profession more accountable
for patients’ health outcomes