Integrating immunology into a case based medical curriculum (51.3)

Abstract

Abstract Several innovations in the delivery of the pre-clinical medical curriculum have focused on non-discipline approaches. These include Problem Based Learning, Team Based Learning and the Clinical Presentation (CP) Curriculum. All these approaches require the integration of various science disciplines into clinical scenarios organized by organ systems. The CP Curriculum involves integrating didactic material in the context of approximately 125 clinical presentations (i.e. chest pain, hematuria, shortness of breath). During the pre-clinical years, a clinician provides an overview of the clinical problems which might be seen followed by a series of basic science presentations relevant to the clinical presentation. Incorporation of immunology into a CP curriculum requires coverage of both basic concepts and pathophysiology of immunologic diseases in each organ system. Our approach is to use a small number of clinical presentations (sore throat, recurrent infections) to cover basic concepts. This is followed by presentations in each organ system during which disease mechanisms and additional immunological concepts are introduced. This presentation will review the ability to include topics identified by USMLE as well as those identified by ASM in such a curriculum along with data on the performance of students enrolled in a medical school using this approach.