APGO

Background: Medical schools are transitioning to competency-based curricula that emphasize an early introduction to clinical training. Vertical integration between the basic and clinical sciences stimulates deeper learning and solidifies the understanding of fundamental biomedical principles. Furthermore, studies have shown that students’ retention of non-contextualized basic science factual information is poor. By engaging clinical faculty into the pre-clinical curriculum, integration of basic sciences with clinical medicine is optimized, and as a result, learning is optimized for students.

• Understand the importance of an integrated basic and clinical science curriculum.

• Review the available resources, tools and materials to aid in developing an integrated curriculum.

• Describe essential components, barriers and opportunities to engage basic science and clinical science faculty in developing an integrated curriculum.

• Discuss the evidence behind basic and clinical science integration (5 minutes)

• Describe successful integrated curricula at three separate institutions (15 minutes)

• Review resources available to course directors (5 minutes) Small group breakout designing integrated curricula incorporating basic and clinical science

• learning objectives (20 minutes)

• Small group report out and large group discussion of methods for implementation and assessment of the small group curricula ideas, as well as barriers  and opportunities (20 minutes)

• Wrap up, questions, sharing of resources (10 minutes)

Take Home Product: A web-based compilation of resources, links, materials and references to aid course directors in creating an integrated basic science / clinical science curriculum.