An Outcome-Based Approach in Medical Curriculum Development

An outcome-based curriculum is perceived to be one alternative educational approach in medical education. Nonetheless, it is difficult for curriculum developers to convert from traditional curriculum to an outcome-based curriculum because research documenting its development process is rare. Therefore, this study aims to introduce the development process and method of outcome-based curriculum. For the purpose of this study, we used diverse data analyses, such as an existing literature search, development model analysis, and case analysis. We identified five phases from the analysis. First, the curriculum developers analyze the physician’s job or a high performer in a medical situation. Second, curriculum developers extract outcomes and competencies through developing a curriculum, affinity diagraming, and critical incident interviews. Third, curriculum developers determine the proficiency levels of each outcome and competency evaluation methods. Fourth, curriculum developers conduct curriculum mapping with outcomes and competencies. Fifth, curriculum developers develop an educational system. Also, it is important to develop an assessment system for the curriculum implementation in the process of developing the outcome-based curriculum. An outcome-based curriculum influences all the people concerned with education in a medical school including the professors, students, and administrative staff members. Therefore, curriculum developers should consider not only performance assessment tools for the students but also assessment indicators for checking curriculum implementation and managing curriculum quality