University of Virginia School of Medicine
Surgery Conference Room, 4:00 p.m.
Present (underlined) were: Reid Adams, Gretchen Arnold, Eve Bargmann, Daniel Becker, Robert Bloodgood, Gene Corbett, John Gazewood, Jennifer Harvey, Donald Innes (Chair), Howard Kutchai, Marcus Martin, Chris Peterson, Jerry Short, Bill Wilson, Anthony DeBenedet, Sixtine Valdelievre, Debra Reed (secretary) Guest: Mary Lee Vance
- USMLE Step 1 Results. The Curriculum Committee reviewed the most recent performance of examinees taking USMLE Step 1 for the first time in 2005. UVA students performed exceptionally well, with a 99% pass rate and a mean score well above the national mean. The Committee was pleased with the result and furthermore noted that the distribution acording to discipline and organ system showed above the mean performance in all areas.
- Pediatric Clerkship Review. Bill Wilson, Director of the Pediatric Clerkship, met with the committee to discuss the recent Clerkship review. The Committee thanked Dr. Wilson for a clear and comprehensive self study report and for his strong leadership as clerkship director. Dr. Wilson noted that the Pediatric Clerkship objectives are in line with the 12 competencies set forth by the Curriculum Committee. The primary goal of the Pediatric clerkship is to give a broad exposure to Pediatrics to the medical student. The Clerkship incorporates computer based case study units to provide a uniform exposure for all medical students. Students are given 18 of the computer cases (CLIPP cases), of these, 15 are required for successful completion of the clerkship. The Pediatric clerkship is an eight-week rotation made up of 4 weeks of inpatient, 2 weeks outpatient and 2 weeks in the nursery. Although a number of students have noted in the evaluations that they would prefer more time with one attending while on the rotation, this is, unfortunately, not possible due to the attending rotation schedule in Pediatrics. Students do praise the clerkship attendings for the quality of their teaching.
Dr. Wilson noted that the undergraduate medical education program has excellent support from the administration and faculty in Pediatrics and that the support staff was also very competent. The relatively high student to patient ratio and seasonal differences in disease presentation in Pediatrics, increase the importance of the CLIPP cases.
Pediatric clerkships are located at Charlottesville, Roanoke, and Fairfax. The shelf exam and in-house essay exam scores reveal no difference in scores from the various clerkship sites. There is no evidence for differences between sites from examination of the results on the Standard Clerkship Evaluation Form used for all students.
Student final grades are based on their NBME shelf exam score, an in-house essay exam score, their passport and faculty and resident ratings. Completion of the passport, ED-2 patient list and specified computer classes (CLIPP cases) are requirements to receive a grade (these are not graded, but are required). The Pediatric Passport identifies specific clinical skills to be "learned and demonstrated" by the student and directly observed and documented by an attending or senior resident.
Student Lecture Attendance. Dr. Mary Lee Vance attended the Committee meeting to discuss her observations and letter to Dean Pearson regarding student attendance in lecture. Dr. Vance noted that in a February PoM-2 introductory lecture on diabetes only about 15 students were in attendance. During her last endocrine lecture, approximately 50 students (out of ~145) were in attendance. Her concern is that these are clinically relevant lectures that show many slides not available on the web due to copyright issues and students are missing pertinent clinical information by not attending lecture. A brief discussion on required versus non-required activities in the School of Medicine ensued. This is an on-going discussion in the Principles of Medicine Committee and will be discussed further in the Curriculum Committee at a later date.