Meeting the needs of future physicians: a core curriculum initiative for postgraduate medical education at a Canadian university

Abstract

In addition to possessing medical expertise, contemporary physicians are expected to be skilled communicators, critical consumers and users of medical research, teachers, collaborators, health care advocates, and managers. A core curriculum is a common set of learning experiences designed to help prepare physicians for these complex roles. This article describes the design and implementation of one core curriculum, summarizes the feedback received from residents, and shares some of the lessons we are learning as we use feedback to develop our programme. The core curriculum described was implemented at a Canadian university which offers 56 residency programmes with a total enrollment of approximately 360 students. The curriculum consisted of 30 sessions organized around four themes: biostatistics and epidemiology; communications and teaching skills; healthcare management, and ethical, medicolegal and lifestyle issues. Each session in the Core Curriculum was evaluated by residents with respect to the timing, quality, and value of the learning experience. In addition, residents participated in focus group discussions of their Core Curriculum experiences. Key findings related to the characteristics of effective core curriculum learning experiences and to the barriers to implementing a core curriculum across programmes. Of particular salience were findings related to explicit issues of attendance and the diverse needs of learners and programmes, and to more implicit issues of communication and managing change. The specific content and format of the Core Curriculum and the results of the evaluation process will be of interest to others considering a core curriculum for postgraduate medical programmes.