The Evaluation of the Medical Curriculum

Any system that works without feedback is doomed to failure. Curriculum evaluation examines the extent to which an educational program is consistent with its objective. Such an evaluation can be seen as a closed loop. It begins with an assessment of the need for the curriculum. This need defines the learning objectives that determine the process. The process evaluation examines whether the curriculum is likely to attain its objectives including those that are difficult (problem-solving), or impossible (ethical and moral decision-making) to measure by formal examinations; whether students and faculty accept the program objectives, and whether the program’s content and methods are relevant, feasible, cost-effective, and consistent with the priorities of the faculty. Commonly used means of process evaluation are students’ ratings of instruction, student debriefing, student perception of their learning environment, teachers’ debriefing, and curriculum mapping. Finally, examinations assess whether the objectives were met. Unmet objectives and developments in biomedical knowledge and technology redefine the need for the curriculum. This section outlines the models of curriculum evaluation and the principles that guide this evaluation.