Twelve tips for developing a systematic acute care curriculum for medical students

Abstract

There are inadequacies in the practice-readiness of junior doctors for providing acute care in areas of clinical deterioration. In addition, the existing undergraduate curricula are fragmented in how acute care is taught in medical schools. We propose twelve tips for developing a systematic acute care curriculum, including what to teach, how to teach it and, how to assess. Furthermore, we propose and incorporate an acute care learning dashboard as an assessment tool which collates and demonstrates the occurrence of learning, faculty feedback, and students’ reflection. We also summarise the existing online resources available for acute care training. We hope to address the existing issues and improve acute care training to prepare the graduates to become practice-ready professionals.

Keywords:

• Acute care curriculum
• practice readiness
• acute care learning dashboard
• undergraduates
• junior doctors
• acute deteriorations

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Disclosure statement

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

Glossary

• COVID-19: Corona Virus Disease of 2019

• DOPS: Directly observed practical skills

• EMQ: Extended matching questions

• EPA: Entrustable professional activities

• MCQ: Multiple choice questions

• Mini CEX: Mini clinical evaluation exercise

• OSCE: Objectively structured clinical examinations

• SAQ: Short answer questions

• SBA: Simulation-based assessments

• SIP: Student internship program

• WBA: Workplace-based assessments

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Balakrishnan Ashokka

Dr. Balakrishnan Ashokka, MBBS, MD, DNB, FANZCA, EDRA, MHPE, is an anaesthesiologist, medical educationalist, and simulation program director (anaesthesia). He is the director for Maastricht master’s in health professions education (MHPE-S) Program at Academy of Medicine, Singapore.

Deanna Wai Ching Lee

Dr. Deanna Wai Ching Lee, MBBS, MRCP, is an internist and medical educationalist. She is currently pursuing her MHPE and has an interest in faculty development and undergraduate students.

Chaoyan Dong

Dr. Chaoyan Dong, PhD, AMEE Fellow, is a medical educator with experience in systematic reviews. She received her PhD in Educational Communication & Technology from New York University in 2008. Her expertise is in simulation and medical education research.