Curriculum Design and Scholarship for New Educators: A Professional Development Workshop for Medical Students

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Curriculum Development
• Educational Scholarship

Background:

• Medical students' professional growth includes educator roles, yet engagement in curriculum development is limited.
• Barriers include a lack of formal leadership training and unawareness of disseminating curricula as scholarship.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and evaluate an interactive workshop for medical students on curriculum development.
• To equip students with skills to create medical curricula and transform them into educational scholarship.

Main Methods:

• A 3-hour, project-focused conference workshop was developed for medical students.
• Sixty-four students in 10 groups created medical curricula using Kern's six-step approach.
• A mixed-methods approach evaluated workshop effectiveness.

Main Results:

• Participants rated the workshop positively, with effective pacing in breakout sessions.
• Student respondents showed a notable increase in self-reported mastery of curriculum development objectives compared to faculty.
• Narrative comments indicated increased readiness to participate in curricular decisions.

Conclusions:

• The workshop provided foundational curriculum development and educational scholarship skills for medical students.
• Flexible session design facilitated in-depth discussion and practical application of educational concepts.