gms | German Medical Science

Medical education curriculum should re-integrate basic sciences and clinical disciplines, aiming to enhance students’ ability to integrate previous and future learning, to link theory and professional standards to practice, and to adapt to change.

Cognitive theories of learning suggest that an integrated approach has important benefits for learning by facilitating contextual and applied learning, and by promoting development of the well organised knowledge structures that underlie clinical reasoning (Muller J.H., 2008). Integrated teaching offers many advantages and is seen as a key factor in the delivery of an effective educational programme (Harden R.M., 2000). The need for integration in medical curriculum raised many pro and cons debates, as it was revealed by the reports on medical education, including “Educating Medical Students”, and “Tomorrow’s Doctors”. Integration is represented as a continuum in the SPICES model for educational strategies, having the discipline-based teaching at one end and the complete integration at the other one.

In this view, the integration ladder is a useful tool for curriculum planning and evaluation, describing the 11 positions, starting from basic teaching till the last four levels which are the expression of integration: transdisciplinary - the “real world” situations; interdisciplinary - the loss of discipline perspective; multidisciplinary - with many subjects brought together, and complementary - focussed on topics. Moving up the ladder, there is less emphasis on disciplines, an increased need for a central curriculum, organizational structure and staff participation in curriculum planning (Harden R.M., 2000).

The critical points in curriculum change towards integration are linked by the following

facts:

1.

integration is based on correlating or linking elements

2.

synchronisation and team working support integration but do not guarantee it without the linking of subjects

3.

in horizontal integration linking occurs among subjects learnt at the same level, while in vertical integration, it occurs at di_erent levels

4.

the more the teacher integrates for the student, the less the student learns to integrate for himself

5.

the highest integration is when the student harmonises learning with living http://www.lookstein.org/integration/curriculum_intro.htm

In curriculum planning it is important to be aware that curriculum reform is differently understood and experienced by the different stakeholders (students and faculty members, patients and the public at large), with respect to instructional method, content, faculty work and the synthesis of knowledge.

These data are part of the POSDRU project no 86/1.2/S/63815 EMEDIQUAL from the FSE-POSDRU 2007- 2013