A Continuum of Innovation: Curricular Renewal Strategies in Undergraduate Medical Education, 2010-2018

Since 2010, medical schools across the United States have engaged in a new cycle of curricular revision and renewal for their undergraduate medical curricula. But what structures, features, and trends have emerged in U.S. medical schools as a result of deliberate curricular redesign efforts? An analysis of the ways that medical schools have approached the reorganization of their curricula to prepare their students for the growing complexity of medical practice is presented.

This study drew a total pool of 40 U.S. MD-granting programs, of which 25 met the inclusion criteria for the study. The authors used a qualitative coding approach to materials from the undergraduate medical education (UME) program websites to identify 4 dimensions of strategies that these programs used to renew their curricula.

The analysis of the curricular maps and website content of the UME programs provided evidence for a continuum approach to the description of innovation strategies: 96% of schools employed a cohort-based linear pathway, 80% of schools used thematic basic science blocks, 47% placed their Step 1 exams outside of the second year, and 68% moved their clerkships to the second year.

The Continuum of Innovation strategies will enable programs to renew their curricula in ways that promote deliberate curricular changes that are consistent with emerging needs in the field. This study and future research may be useful for UME programs with limited resources by providing consensus practices that enable them to plan curricular changes in ways that best serve their institutions.