Executive Curriculum Committee

The medical school curriculum is governed by a faculty committee system. Each of the four curricular years has a corresponding “year curriculum committee” that works collaboratively to examine educational issues in detail. The year committees include faculty, student and administrative representatives. Year committees meet monthly and make recommendations to the school-wide Executive Curriculum Committee.

The Executive Curriculum Committee is charged with the “integrated institutional responsibility for the overall design, management and evaluation of a coherent and coordinated curriculum” (LCME Standard ED-33). Consequently, the ECC reviews all recommendations that come from the year-specific committees and/or student representatives and forwards them to the Dean, along with its recommendations and assessment of how the changes might impact the total curriculum. The Executive Curriculum Committee also engages in a systematic review of the entire curriculum on an ongoing basis and formally reports to the Dean and faculty regarding its activities.

The Executive Curriculum Committee is responsible for the following specific tasks:

• Overall management, monitoring and coordination of the total educational program to ensure congruence with overall SOM educational objectives
• Review and oversight of the content of the curriculum, including consideration of any proposed modifications
• Review and oversight of the teaching methods used in the curriculum
• Review and oversight of the methods used for student evaluation and grading
• Approving the academic calendar for each year
• Communicating to faculty and students through curriculum committee representatives
• Reviewing measures of student and course performance and evaluating the components of the year-specific curriculum
• Applying principles of evaluating program effectiveness by outcomes analysis, with emphasis on continuous quality improvement of the entire curriculum

Our system of shared governance reflects our tripartite mission. The strong primary care mission of the medical school is very visible during curriculum committee meetings and planning sessions. We recognize that curriculum governance is a dynamic process involving “ongoing review of the educational program” and a “focus….on implementing a quality improvement-based approach to curriculum management” (Academic Medicine 2000; 75 (9 Supp): S268-70). Our ultimate goal is to ensure continued excellence in all aspects of medical student education at Brody School of Medicine.