Computerization of undergraduate medical curriculum content

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Information Science

Background:

• The first three years of the medical undergraduate curriculum require efficient management of extensive didactic content.
• Existing methods for summarizing and accessing curriculum information can be fragmented and time-consuming.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a computerized system for storing and retrieving informative summaries of the medical undergraduate curriculum.
• To improve the accessibility and usability of curriculum content for review and integration.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the MICOM word processor and SORT 2000 program with disc storage for computerized data management.
• Assigned a page of computer memory to each teaching session summary, coded with demographic and index information.
• Compiled composite summaries from teacher-prepared materials and student notes, with teacher review and modification before data entry.

Main Results:

• The SORT 2000 program enables efficient search, selection, and retrieval of teaching session content.
• Data disc reproduction facilitates multiple access for departments and teaching blocks.
• The system allows for rapid curriculum review, identification of redundancies, and better integration of educational material.

Conclusions:

• The developed computerized method provides an effective tool for managing and accessing medical curriculum information.
• This system supports curriculum quality improvement through enhanced review and integration capabilities.