MEDICAL CURRICULUM DATABASE

(Click for Demo Curriculum Database site)

In 1997 the College of Medicine set about documenting the curriculum in an electronic database to assist curriculum planners, faculty teaching in medical school courses, and students. Fred Dee and Tim Leaven, Department of Pathology, developed the web-based database that is now maintained through OCRME staff member Roger Steffen.

The database is organized by course but also searchable by topics and keywords, allowing for multiple uses. Faculty can search the database by "M1 Class of 2000" in order to determine the extent to which previous courses have covered a particular topic. They can access their previous year's presentation in order to edit it for the upcoming semester. Curriculum Committee members and ad hoc curriculum groups can use the database to examine the depth, breadth and integration of specified content themes. Students can use their course web pages to complete practice exams and review lecture material, to access external web sites from links provided in course lectures, or to complete on-line course/faculty evaluations.

Information on the preclinical courses and most clinical rotations may be accessed through the curriculum database. Most course web pages have been organized in a standard format for ease of use and contain Course Descriptions, Schedules and Lecture Content, Evaluations, and optional links to Practice Exams and/or Answers, Case Analyses, CT Scans and X-rays, Reprints, and Related Sites (e.g. Pathology Computer Programs, and Virtual Histology Laboratory).

The Medical Curriculum Database is on an intranet accessible by unpublished address, username, and password. It is developed specifically for use by College of Medicine students and faculty.

To view a demonstration of the database click on the link at the top of this page.

For further information, contact roger-steffen@uiowa.edu.