Combining Expertise: Reflecting on a Team Approach to Curriculum Development and Implementation

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Curriculum Development
• Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Background:

• Explores a unique model of curriculum development and implementation involving collaboration between basic scientists and clinicians.
• Examines the advantages, disadvantages, and unforeseen outcomes of this integrated approach through faculty reflections.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the benefits and challenges of a collaborative course co-director model involving basic scientists and clinicians.
• To understand faculty experiences with interdisciplinary curriculum development and implementation.

Main Methods:

• Employed semi-structured phone interviews with ten faculty members.
• Conducted qualitative analysis of interview transcripts to identify key themes.

Main Results:

• Four primary themes emerged: value of the basic scientist-clinician partnership, coordination strategies, responsibility balancing, and hierarchy/power dynamics.
• Faculty reported significant benefits from the collaborative co-director approach.

Conclusions:

• The basic scientist and clinician co-director collaboration yielded positive outcomes in curriculum organization, evaluation, student feedback, and USMLE Step I performance.
• Despite challenges, the integrated approach demonstrated clear advantages for medical curriculum development and implementation.