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How medical students can bring about curricular change
K M Atkins1, A E Roberts, N Cochran
1Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH 03756, USA.
Summary
Medical students can drive curriculum reform by identifying emerging topics and developing electives. Their involvement is key to modernizing medical education and ensuring relevant content, like women's health, becomes core curriculum.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Curriculum Development
- Health Sciences
Background:
- Medical school committees traditionally lead curriculum reform.
- Medical students often possess unique insights into emerging educational needs.
- Student-led initiatives can be powerful drivers of curricular change.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the development and implementation of a student-organized women's health elective.
- To illustrate the process of integrating a student-initiated elective into the required medical curriculum.
- To highlight the significant role medical students can play in curriculum reform.
Main Methods:
- Faculty at Dartmouth Medical School initiated a curricular restructuring, offering new electives.
- Students were encouraged to propose and organize electives on topics not covered.
- A women's health elective was developed and implemented by two second-year medical students and a faculty sponsor.
Main Results:
- The student-developed women's health elective was successfully implemented.
- The elective's content was later integrated into the required medical school curriculum.
- This initiative demonstrated the value of student participation in curriculum innovation.
Conclusions:
- Medical students are vital partners in identifying and addressing gaps in medical education.
- Student-led electives can serve as a pathway for introducing innovative and essential topics into core curricula.
- Empowering students in curriculum reform fosters a more dynamic and responsive medical education system.