Since the first Curriculum Renewal retreat was held last April, more than 100, faculty, staff, residents and students have been involved in curriculum renewal. Their contributions to the 11 Task Groups have been extremely thorough, thoughtful and visionary.

This is an exciting time for the Faculty of Medicine as we revise our curriculum to reflect current system and thematic approaches. Task Group recommendations include:
• A more integrated curriculum (both vertically and horizontally) that promotes scaffolding of learning through proposed re-organization of pre-clinical years.
• Longitudinal courses will continue within the UGME curriculum, but the number will be expanded.
• Identifying ~130 representative key issues (composite clinical problems) that students will be expected to ‘manage’ by the end of the UGME curriculum.
• Inclusion of governance processes for theme areas in the curriculum, to promote integration of these areas in the curriculum and avoid curricular drift.
• A reorganized clerkship, focusing on providing clerks opportunities to consolidate knowledge.
• Reorganized leadership, to facilitate curriculum governance.
• A curriculum evaluation process, to measure the effects of these changes, and make recommendations for improvement on an ongoing basis.

The full Task Groups’ reports are available here. Please take time to read them and provide feedback to Dr. Keevin Bernstein or through our Faculty’s anonymous web feedback form.

Thanks to the Task Group chairs (and their committees) who worked tirelessly from July through December culminating in their presentations to the Steering Committee then the December Faculty Fora with recommendations and key principles to create a made in Manitoba UGME curriculum.

Since then a Curriculum Renewal Executive has been meeting weekly working diligently to analyze, dissect and collate the Task Group recommendations into a new curriculum framework. In addition to the faculty participating as the Executive, the input of the students and residents has been invaluable.

Please join us on Tuesday, February 28 from Noon – 1 p.m. in Frederic Gaspard Theatre for a first-hand look at the proposed new curriculum framework.

Implementation of the new curriculum is slated for September 2013, and we are planning an external review to be conducted in the coming months.

The new curriculum is still very much a “work in progress” and your ongoing contributions are encouraged. It has been our goal to ensure there are multiple opportunities for faculty, staff, students and residents to provide vital input in the curriculum renewal process.