Mapping a curriculum database to the USMLE Step 1 content outline

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Curriculum Development
• Health Sciences Informatics

Background:

• Assessing medical curriculum completeness is challenging due to the lack of a universal standard.
• The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 Exam Content Outline offers a potential framework for curriculum evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a computer-based tool for matching medical curriculum content against a standardized examination outline.
• To evaluate the completeness of topic coverage in the ArizonaMed curriculum (Tucson track) using the USMLE Step 1 framework.

Main Methods:

• Deconstructing the USMLE Step 1 content outline and translating it into equivalent Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms.
• Developing a tool to map ArizonaMed curriculum content to the MeSH-translated USMLE outline, with graphical representation of matches.
• Conducting faculty retreats to validate the accuracy and completeness of the MeSH-translated outline and visualize content distribution.

Main Results:

• The developed tool successfully mapped ArizonaMed curriculum content to the modified USMLE outline.
• Graphical representations illustrated content coverage and the frequency of MeSH terms across instructional blocks.
• Faculty confirmed the accuracy and completeness of the curriculum in relation to the USMLE outline, assuring comprehensive topic coverage.

Conclusions:

• A computer-based tool utilizing MeSH terms can effectively assess medical curriculum completeness against standardized outlines like the USMLE.
• This approach provides faculty and students with assurance of comprehensive topic coverage.
• The project enhances content-tracking capabilities for medical databases, improving curriculum management.