Approaches to mapping an undergraduate medical curriculum to a national competency-based catalogue of learning outcomes

Abstract

Background

Curriculum mapping plays an increasing role in the design and implementation of competency-based medical education. We present an exemplary mapping of an institutional undergraduate medical curriculum to a national competency-based outcome framework to compare approaches to mapping procedures in their capacity to depict the relative coverage.

Methods

The mapping process was performed by a small working group that continuously reconciled its findings. In step 1, we mapped the course objectives of our programme (Charité Berlin, Germany) to the National Competency-Based Catalogue of Learning Outcomes Medicine (NKLM). In step 2, we employed three primarily quantitative approaches (single, multiple, and subordinate match) and one primarily qualitative approach (content comparison) to derive the degree of NKLM coverage.

Results

In step 1, we mapped a total of 4400 programme objectives to 2105 NKLM objectives. In step 2, the quantitative approaches provided a general overview of the pattern of coverage, while the qualitative approach required more effort but provided a better representation of the scope and depth of coverage.

Discussion

The mapping approach chosen markedly impacts on the results how of well an institutional curriculum covers a national standard. This study highlights the need for more rigour in the methodology and reporting of curriculum mapping.

Keywords:

• Curriculum mapping
• undergraduate medical programme
• competency-based education
• catalogue of learning outcomes

Acknowledgements

We thank Jonathan Martin Gavrysh and Ruben Jödicke for their valuable participation in the mapping process and Olaf Ahlers for initial conceptual discussions on the mapping procedure.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Author contributions

All authors were responsible for the design of this study. KG, TK, and HP carried out the study. KG and HP were responsible for data analysis. KG and HP drafted the manuscript. All authors contributed to the revisions of the manuscript and approved its final version.

Glossary

Curriculum map: A curriculum map displays how and when content is taught, and which assessment is used to determine outcomes. An accurate map arranges each aspect of the curriculum in a logical and transparent manner, making them equally available to academics, students, and other stakeholders involved with the programme (Gorrell et al. 2015).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kim Gulbis

Kim Gulbis was a medical student, recently graduated as a physician and is a doctoral fellow in the project reported here at the Dieter Scheffner Center for Medical Education, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.

Theresa Krüger

Theresa Krüger, MD, worked as a student assistant at the Dieter Scheffner Center for Medical Education and was a medical student, both at the Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin.

Martin Dittmar

Martin Dittmer, IngD, is a research assistant in the Department of IT Services, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.

Harm Peters

Harm Peters, MD, MHPE, is a professor of Medical Education and Director of the Dieter Scheffner Center for Medical Education, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.