Abstract
Horizontal and vertical integration within medical school curricula, truncated contact hours available to teach basic biomedical sciences, and diverse assessment methods have left histology educators searching for an answer to a fundamental question—what ensures competency for medical students in histology upon completion of medical school? The Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME) and the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) advocate faculty to provide medical students with a list of learning objectives prior to any educational activities, regardless of pedagogy. It is encouraged that the learning objectives are constructed using higher-order and measurable action verbs to ensure student-centered learning and assessment. A survey of the literature indicates that there is paucity of knowledge about competencies, goals, and learning objectives appropriate for histology education in preclinical years. To address this challenge, an interactive online taskforce, comprising faculty from across the United States, was assembled. The outcome of this project was a desired set of competencies for medical students in histology with educational goals and learning objectives to achieve them.
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Pamela Baker (Associate Dean/Associate Professor of Undergraduate Medical Education, Curriculum Development & Assessment, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati) for her expert opinion on the project. We also wish to thank Shawn Boynes (Executive Director, American Association of Anatomists) and Elizabeth Austin (Communications and Marketing Manager, American Association of Anatomists) for their help and support with the project.
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Das, M., Ettarh, R., Lowrie, D.J. et al. A Guide to Competencies, Educational Goals, and Learning Objectives for Teaching Medical Histology in an Undergraduate Medical Education Setting. Med.Sci.Educ. 29, 523–534 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-018-00688-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-018-00688-9