From Tinkering to Transformation: Lessons Learned From 10 Years of Curricular Reculturing

Over the past decade, there has been a robust increase in the number of Physician Assistant/Associate (PA) Programs operating in the United States. Curriculum design and construction remains a major activity and strategic priority for our profession as PA education faculty. However, our curriculum design, redesign, and renewal initiatives are often focused on unique and idiosyncratic changes or "tinkering" that can lead to curriculum dilution and drift. An alternative approach to curriculum design is to view the curriculum as a culture. Through this lens, curriculum design becomes a reculturing that provides programs with opportunities to embed curricular values into the learning environment, curricular decision making, and learner-centered educational experiences. This article reflects on a decade of curricular reculturing in our program including how we designed and built the Colorado Curriculum using a curricular culture approach, the pressures it encountered, and the intersections at which we find ourselves as we identify current opportunities for re-engagement. Most importantly we identify and share our major lessons learned including the profound cultural shift activated by such a cultural approach; the substantial time investment required; and the critical commitments to conscious and consistent communication and onboarding needed to hold the program and change initiative together.