One Specialty’s Collaborative Approach to Competency-Based Curriculum Development

The authors describe a seven-step consensus development process used to create the two most recent editions of the Academic Pediatric Association’s (APA’s) educational guidelines for pediatric residency. The 1996 (printed) and 2004 (online) editions of the guidelines were designed as flexible tools to help residency programs meet changing accreditation requirements by providing lists of goals and objectives and objective-based evaluation tools. The guidelines were developed in seven steps: (1) centralized national leadership combined with coordinated, disseminated authorship, (2) clear definition of targeted users and repeated assessment of their needs, (3) incorporation of up-to-date information from the literature and national experts, (4) responsive consultation with the national Pediatric Residency Review Committee on the latest accreditation requirements, (5) wide distribution for prepublication review, to obtain broad organizational buy-in and end-user acceptance, (6) intensive dissemination and faculty development through multiple national workshops over several years, and (7) careful evaluation of utilization and user feedback. Representatives of all major organizations involved in pediatric education helped to refine the guidelines. User surveys conducted for the 1996 edition, and Web site user data collected for the 2004 edition, demonstrate that both editions have been used by most residency programs throughout the country. The authors believe that the multifaceted approach to consensus development and the customizable design of the curricular tools in the APA’s guidelines are directly associated with their broad national use. These methods may help to guide educators in other disciplines who are interested in developing and implementing educational products for national dissemination and use

Evaluation of the Use of an Interactive, Online Resource for Competency-Based Curriculum Development

Purpose To evaluate pediatric educators’ use of and satisfaction with the Academic Pediatric Association’s Educational Guidelines for Pediatric Residency. Method The authors used customized programming to document all registered users and downloaded files from the Guidelines Web site for a 30-month period after site completion. An online survey of volunteer users was conducted. Results Between July 2005 and December 2007, 1,747 individuals registered on the Web site, and 8,754 files were downloaded. Registrants who downloaded files (n = 1,239) represented 97% of the pediatric residency programs in 2008 that were approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. During 30 months, the frequency of downloads remained robust, peaking each spring. Curriculum-building tools were downloaded by 97% of programs using the site; the majority chose predesigned formats rather than self-selected lists of goals and objectives. Resident evaluation forms and tutorials were downloaded less frequently. A survey was completed by 111 site users, who indicated that the Guidelines tools were useful for Residency Review Committee site visit preparation. Most respondents said that the curriculum-building tools were easy to use, adaptable, and helpful in integration of competencies into residency programs. Respondents rated tutorials highly for educational content and clarity

Faculty Promotion and Tenure Evaluating the Performance of Medical Educators: A Novel Analysis Tool to Demonstrate the Quality and Impact of Educational Activities

Abstract Purpose Traditional promotion standards rely heavily on quantification of research grants and publications in the curriculum vitae