Do they teach what they need to? An analysis of the impact of curriculum mapping on the learning objectives taught in a lecture series in surgery

Abstract

Introduction: Curriculum mapping shows concordances and differences between the intended and the taught curriculum. To our knowledge, no previous studies describe the effects that this mapping has on the curriculum. The aim of the present study is to map the content of a lecture series in surgery to the National Catalogue of Learning Objectives in Surgery and analyze the effects this mapping has on the content of the following lecture series.

Methods: All lecturers in the lecture series were directly observed by a minimum of two reviewers and learning objectives and the level of competence were documented. After the lecture series, the results were visualized within the catalog of learning objectives and were sent to the lecturers. In the following lecture series, learning objectives were documented correspondingly.

Results: In the first lecture series, 47% of the learning objectives were taught. After the mapping, the number of learning objectives that were taught increased to 59% (p < 0.001). The increase was found in all surgical disciplines and in all levels of competences without any changes in the average duration of the lectures.

Conclusions: The presented method for mapping a curriculum effectively increased the number of taught learning objectives without requiring longer lecture durations.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the reviewers as well as the lecturers of the lecture series.

Disclosure statement

This study was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grant 01PL12038A) as part of the joint research project, “Practical clinical competence—a joint program to improve training in surgery”. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jasmina Sterz

Jasmina Sterz, MD, is working as teaching coordinator and educational researcher at the department of surgery at University hospital Frankfurt in Germany.

Sebastian H. Hoefer

Sebastian H. Hoefer, MD, MME, is working as a physician at the Department of Oral, Cranio-Maxillofacial, and Facial Plastic Surgery at the University Hospital Frankfurt.

Maren Janko

Maren Janko, MD, is working as a physician at Department of Trauma, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery at the University Hospital Frankfurt.

Bernd Bender

Bernd Bender, MSc, works as a researcher with a focus on medical education and statistical analysis at the Department of Trauma, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery at the University Hospital Frankfurt.

Farzin Adili

Farzin Adili, MD, MME, is head of the Department of Vascular Surgery, Klinikum Darmstadt.

Teresa Schreckenbach

Teresa Schreckenbach, MD, MME, is working as a physician at Department of General and Visceral Surgery at the University Hospital Frankfurt.

Lukas Benedikt Seifert

Lukas Benedikt Seifert, MD, is working as a physician at the Department of Oral, Cranio-Maxillofacial, and Facial Plastic Surgery at the University Hospital Frankfurt.

Miriam Ruesseler

Prof. Miriam Rüsseler, MD, MME, is specialist in orthopedic and trauma surgery, head of the simulation training center of the Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany and educational researcher at the department of surgery at University hospital Frankfurt in Germany.