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Curriculum Committees & Working Groups

The Educational Policy and Curriculum Committee (EPCC) provides integrated institutional responsibility for the design and management of the curriculum. The EPCC has a broad mandate from the school's faculty to change, integrate, and manage the curriculum, to adapt to emerging needs and has the authority to arbitrate final proposals. In addition to responsibility for the curriculum, the EPCC is further charged with addressing the status of teaching at the School of Medicine , the evaluation and rewarding of the teaching process, and the general philosophy of the educational system.

The chair of the EPCC is the Deputy Dean for education who oversees the activities of the EPCC, its subcommittees, and the office of education, and is responsible for implementation of new curriculum or educational policies. The EPCC is composed of five faculty members elected by the teaching faculty leaders (course and clerkship directors), eight students elected by their classmates, and three departmental chairs. There are also ex officio members who serve in important leadership roles in the school: Associate Dean of Student Affairs, Director of the MD/PhD Program, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education, and Director of Student Research.

The EPCC oversees the design and management of the curriculum in several ways. First, the committee directly examines issues of broad school-wide importance. Second, the committee oversees the activities of the EPCC subcommittees. Third, the committee's chair, the Deputy Dean for Education, implements recommendations made by the EPCC by meeting on a regular basis with all course and clerkship directors. Last, the EPCC hears reports from the Deans and Directors who oversee significant components of the educational program (Student Affairs, MD/PhD Program, Admissions and Financial Aid, Post-Graduate Medical Education, and Student Research).

There are three standing EPCC subcommittees charged with conducting an ongoing review of the content and success of the educational program (Figure 1 and Table 1). The content of the curriculum is reviewed by the curriculum subcommittee, which establishes the goals and objectives of the educational program. The success of the program is ascertained by two assessment subcommittees (preclinical and clinical), which monitor the quality of the teaching and the achievement by the students. The curriculum subcommittee is composed of faculty and students representing the entire four year curriculum thus ensuring a vertical overview. The assessment subcommittees are composed of those students and faculty who participate in either the preclinical or clinical curriculum (Figure 2).

Education Working Groups

Figure 1:

Table 1:
Subcommittee	Mission and actions
Curriculum	Establish and monitor goals and learning objectives of educational program
	*	Review and modify school wide objectives
	*	Review learning objectives of courses and clerkships
	*	Request and review curricular goals of new proposals
	*	Anticipate needed for modifications of educational program
Assessment (Preclinical)	Determine if goals and learning objectives of the educational program have been met
	*	Review results of assessments of the educational program (by students)
	*	Review effectiveness and results of assessments of students' mastery of knowledge, skills and attitudes
Assessment (Clinical)	*	Interview course, clerkship and electives directors, and students
	*	Review course and clerkship materials
	*	Discuss assessment plans of new proposals

Figure 2: