Overview of 1997-98 CME Meetings

Arranged Chronologically by Meeting Date and Issues Discussed
(Detailed Digest Available Upon Request)

1. Update on Millennium Curriculum Project (MCP)—distribution of draft copy of the Goal Statement, suggestions for a unifying theme, reasons for change

1. Motion to approve Revised Remediation Program and Procedures for Remediation passes unanimously.

2. Exploration of Henry Ford Track begun

3. Motion to allow the scheduling of afternoon Core Academic Program hours during the 1997-98 academic year to preserve the integrity of the current schedule and to avoid disruption passes unanimously.

4. Outstanding performance of students on the USMLE Step 1 taken June 1997 (99% pass rate)

1. Dr. William Renehan, Director of Gastroenterology Research at Henry Ford Health System, is introduced as new CME member. He and guest Dr. Robert Levine, also of Henry Ford, are investigating the feasibility of establishing a Henry Ford track in Detroit encompassing all four years of undergraduate medical education which would parallel the CWRU curriculum via distance learning and culminate in awarding of the M.D. degree from CWRU.

2. Certain Friday afternoons will be set aside for OB/GYN residents to offer OB/GYN lab review sessions as an option (not a requirement) to students.

3. Review of test results from the Musculoskeletal/Integument (MSI) multiple-choice-question exam and the gross anatomy practical administered September 15, 1997

4. Discussion of feasibility of a proposed Henry Ford Health System track in Detroit

1. Update on the Millennium Curriculum Project

a. Establishment of four working groups—Content, Teaching and Learning, Evaluation, and Professionalism

b. Establishment of the three curriculum components that come to be named: Fundamentals of Structure and Function (the "vocabulary"), The Art and Science of Medicine, and Advanced Individual Study

2. Update on the Henry Ford Track Proposal—successful conversion of E301 into an electronic classroom

3. Presentation of Biomedical Information Technologies timetable of technical milestones

1. Core Academic Program Coordinator compliments student feedback letters on their inclusion of comments on every lecture.

2. Presentation and discussion of Proposal for Educational and Administration Amalgamation of the Family Medicine/Primary Care Clerkships

3. Update on the Millennium Curriculum Project

a. CME’s role as large oversight Content working group

b. Draft of "Content Subcommittee Proposal"

1. Student CME expresses concern over 1) loss of flexibility in scheduling and 2) decision whether to take second month in pediatrics or internal medicine versus family medicine without exposure to those particular clerkships should the Proposal for Educational and Administrative Amalgamation of the Family Medicine & Primary Care Clerkships be implemented.

2. Motion to accept the Proposal for Educational and Administrative Amalgamation of the Family Medicine & Primary Care Clerkships that would place the Family Practice Clerkship and Primary Care Preceptorship back-to-back in a two-month block as the usual circumstance, to be completed by November of the senior year, passes—8 in favor, 1 opposed.

3. Update on the Millennium Curriculum Project—Content Subcommittee Proposal and accompanying cover letter distributed and amended. All proposals to be submitted to Dr. LaManna by December 31, 1997

4. Update on the Henry Ford track—Postponement of proposed CME meeting to be held at Henry Ford December 11, 1997, as an example of distance learning and two-way transmission

1. Contingent from Henry Ford has visited the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota to investigate its involvement with distance learning. The Mayo Clinic was chosen because of its similarity in class size and cost per student to the proposed CWRU Henry Ford track.

2. Explanation of postponement of today’s CME meeting that was to be chaired from Henry Ford, with a CME contingent traveling to Detroit to visit the facilities and a demonstration of our electronic classroom E301. Since the telephone lines could not be installed in time, we currently lack the ability to guarantee the high-speed transmission desired between Henry Ford and CWRU.

3. Reminder to periodically consult the CME home page started this year

4. Negative faculty reaction to the public posting of the Student CME feedback letters that contain specific references critical of individual, named faculty members

5. Update on the Millennium Curriculum Project—December 31, 1997, is the desired deadline for receiving topic content, or "theme," proposals for the new curriculum.

1. Entire meeting devoted to Millennium Curriculum Project Update.

a. Core Academic Program Coordinator to convene a horizontal oversight committee for year one to formulate the new year one curriculum.

b. Tentative ideas on Evaluation of many aspects of new curriculum

2. Dr. Dan Tosteson, Dean of Harvard for twenty years and dean when Harvard instituted its New Pathway curriculum, to be keynote speaker for the daylong medical education retreat Friday, February 27, 1998

1. Year one students’ request to have access to histology and anatomy practical exams granted pending approval of faculty involved

2. Preliminary discussion of the Physical Diagnosis pilot project proposal, which would introduce Physical Diagnosis in year one and incorporate fourth year student preceptors and standardized patients.

3. Update on the Millennium Curriculum Project—Year one core content committee "The Language and Foundation of Medicine Committee Creating the Content for the Year One Curriculum" holds its first meeting January 21, 1998.

1. Year two class members to decide between two methods to use in signing up for clerkships

2. Update on the Millennium Curriculum Project

a. Content proposals are being reviewed by Drs. LaManna and Scoles. After completion of their review, themes will be coalesced, and individual proposers will present their related themes to the CME.

b. Discussion of the Curriculum Dean’s role

3. Update on the Henry Ford Track—Reliance on technology, especially distance learning and video conferencing, is necessary. We are to have access to a better connection to Henry Ford in the near future. We have missed many of the technology deadlines necessary in order to implement the Henry Ford track this fall.

1. Continuation of discussion of Physical Diagnosis pilot proposal begun January 22. Motion passes (7 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 abstention) to replace what is now PD 1 and PD 2 with a pilot Physical Diagnosis proposal as outlined in the handout that would utilize a maximum of 32 randomly selected students (probably fewer), that would move the beginning of Physical Diagnosis to year one, and that would make use of both fourth year student preceptors and standardized patients. Implementation of the Physical Diagnosis pilot proposal depends on the availability of sufficient resources.

2. Motion passes (6 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 abstention) that the CME should establish a subcommittee with the charge to design and carry out a series of four whole school CPCs (Clinical-Pathologic Conferences) during the 1998-1999 academic year, as a pilot project for possible future incorporation of an extended whole school CPC series into the regular curriculum.

3. Motion passes unanimously that the CME endorse the establishment of vertical themes in the Millennium Curriculum.

4. Update on the Millennium Curriculum Project—The CME to serve as a forum for bringing faculty together for presentation and discussion of the content proposals or, "vertical themes," by the submitters

1. Third year student representative requests breakdown of actual percentage distribution with regard to each of the following clinical clerkship grades for the 1997-98 academic year: honors, commendable (the newly added "high pass" category), and satisfactory.

2. Tomorrow the NBME comprehensive basic science examination will take place. We urge all students to take the exam in that it correlates well with the USMLE Step 1 and thereby offers students a means of self-assessment, and it provides practice for the rigorous and highly structured testing environment required by the NBME.

3. Update on the Millennium Curriculum Project—"Kick-Off" session to review content themes with authors present to explain how each theme fits into a four-year curriculum, how it can integrate with other disciplines, and how it incorporates both basic science and clinical science. CME is concentrating on forming a solid year one curriculum to start during the 1999-2000 academic year with additional general ideas as to the nature of years two, three, and four. Biochemistry, Gross Anatomy, Genetics, and Human Development proposals are presented and discussed.

1. Update on the Millennium Curriculum Project—continued discussion of proposals presented at last meeting and presentation and discussion of Clinical Science proposal

1. Presentation of Alpha Omega Alpha Position Paper from the class of 1998

a. Discussants endorse Office of Student Affairs’ involvement in obtaining a complete, up-to-date collection of review books and textbooks for the students to use.

b. Concern about decreased diversity in the student body (ethnicity, age, and varying professional and educational backgrounds) fuels the motion that the CME endorse a commitment to the preservation of a diverse student body as an important element of the educational environment.

2. Update on the Millennium Curriculum Project—Presentation and discussion of proposals on the Physiology of Cells and Organ Systems and on the Respiratory System

1. Discussion of impact of USMLE Step 1 as gating measure to the third year with the advent of the online USMLE Step 1 in 1999, which will be taken on demand

2. Update on the Millennium Curriculum Project—Presentation and discussion of proposals on Biological Basis of Disease I and Infectious Diseases

3. Discussion of student attendance

1. Student CME has distributed the reference book survey requesting names of specific books to both the year one and year two classes. A list of the results will be compiled in June after exams.

2. Update on the Millennium Curriculum Project—Preliminary presentation and discussion of Cancer/Oncology and Hematology proposals and overall discussion of the curriculum revision

1. Update on the Millennium Curriculum Project—Presentation and discussion of Anesthesiology, Cancer/Oncology, and Substance Abuse proposals and announcement that IBM will take part in a research project investigating how personal digital assistants (PDA’s) can be used in the clinical setting by our third year students

1. Presentation of 1997-98 Core Academic Program Report—completion of first year of secure interim examinations for year one

2. Presentation of 1997-98 Flexible Program Report—more than half the class enrolled in Areas of Concentration; enthusiastic response from northeastern Ohio alumni to sponsor students at their practice site for the Millennium Curriculum

1. Announcements by the Core Academic Program Coordinator

a. The mean for the year one comprehensive examination is 78 ± 8 (1 standard deviation).

b. Beginning this year, faculty are required to include learning objectives for each lecture. There will be a seminar on how to define learning objectives. Faculty not having access to the electronic curriculum can come to the Computer Lab Room E324 in the School of Medicine to do their learning objectives.

2. Distribution of the following annual reports for 1997-98: 1) Physical Diagnosis by Dr. Baha Arafah, Physical Diagnosis Director, 2) Clinical Science by Co-Directors Ms. Kathy Cole-Kelly and Dr. Ted Parran, Jr., and 3) Patient-Based Program Annual Report focusing on the core clerkships by Dr. Jay Wish, Patient-Based Program Coordinator

3. Update on the Millennium Curriculum Project—Presentation and discussion of Pharmacology, Surgery, Women’s Health, and Gastrointestinal-Nutrition-Fundamentals of Therapeutic Agents

Return to CME Home Page