Educational Program Committee

The Educational Program Committee (EPC) is the primary committee responsible for the curriculum. In accordance to the School of Medicine Bylaws, this formal School of Medicine committee is responsible for the overall design, management and evaluation of the medical student curriculum.  The EPC has the authority to lead, direct, coordinate, control, and plan all matters related to the curriculum and will regularly report on curriculum matters to Faculty Forum and the Dean.

To fulfill its responsibilities, the Committee will oversee the following curriculum-related activities:

  • Development and review of the educational program objectives
  • Ensuring horizontal and vertical curriculum integration
  • Monitoring the overall quality and outcomes of individual courses and clerkships
  • Monitoring the outcomes of the curriculum as a whole

Membership: The Vice-Dean of Undergraduate Medical Education who serves as Chair; Five peer elected Executive Faculty; Four Executive Faculty, appointed by the Dean; The Associate Dean for the ULSOM’s regional campus (Trover) or his or her designee; Three Student Representatives elected for a three-year term will represent 2nd, 3rd and 4th year students; Five non-voting ex-officio members from the Undergraduate Medical Education Office and Student Affairs who function to provide information to help the EPC carry out its mission.

The Educational Program Committee (EPC) has five subcommittees.  All subcommittees report any proposed action recommendations to the EPC on a monthly basis. Additionally, the minutes from each subcommittee meeting are reviewed by the EPC.  The five subcommittees meet, on average, monthly or bimonthly and function as described below:

 

M1-2 Curriculum Committee

Membership:  Assistant Dean for Medical Education/Basic Sciences, who shall chair the committee, Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education, First and Second Year Course Directors and selected Thread Directors, Director of Undergraduate Medical Education; Student Affairs Academic Support Specialist, First and Second Year Class Presidents and Vice Presidents, Second Year Student EPC Representative, and Chair of the M3-4 Subcommittee.

Responsibilities: The M1-2 Subcommittee advises the EPC on policy and curricular changes. These changes must support EPC goals and maximize students’ learning experiences and teaching effectiveness. The subcommittee is also responsible for collaborating with M3-4 subcommittee members to vertically integrate content and topics across all four years.  Additional responsibilities include confirming the course and examination schedule for each semester and reporting M1-2 phase outcomes to the EPC.

  

M3-4 Subcommittee

Membership: Assistant Dean for Medical Education/Clinical Skills, who shall chair the committee, Directors of all required Clerkships; Trover Campus representative; Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education; Director of Undergraduate Medical Education; Student Affairs Registrar, Course Director for Introduction to Clinical Medicine course, Course Director for the Advanced Clinical Medicine course, Third and Fourth Year Class Presidents and Vice Presidents, Third and Fourth Year Student Representatives to the EPC, and the Chair of the M1-2 Subcommittee.

Responsibilities: The M3-4 Subcommittee proposes policy and curricular changes to the EPC. These changes must support EPC goals and maximize students’ learning experiences and teaching effectiveness. The subcommittee is also responsible for collaborating with M1-2 subcommittee members to vertically integrate content and topics across all four years.  Additional responsibilities include reporting M3-4 phase outcomes to the EPC and providing oversight for the in-house Clinical Skills Exams.

 

Evaluation and Assessment Subcommittee

Membership: The Director of Undergraduate Medical Education, who shall chair the subcommittee, Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education/Basic Sciences, Director of Curriculum Management Information Systems, Director of Undergraduate Medical Education Research, Evaluation and Assessment Coordinator, a minimum of four clinical faculty members and four basic science faculty members, and one student representative from each of the four classes.

Responsibilities: Through the evaluation of courses and quality of assessments, the Evaluation and Assessment Subcommittee (EAS) proposes curricular changes to the EPC that are designed to improve course quality. The EPC discusses EAS proposals and accepts, rejects, or revises them before making final recommendations to clerkship and course directors. The EAS is also responsible for reviewing curriculum outcomes at the program objective level.

 

Integration Subcommittee

Membership: Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education, who shall chair the committee, Chairs of M1-2 and M3-4 Subcommittees (or their designees); EPC student representatives; basic science course and thread directors; at least two clinicians; Director of Undergraduate Medical Education and Director of Standardized Patient Program.

Responsibilities:  The Integration Subcommittee proposes curricular changes to the EPC that are based on maximizing horizontal and vertical integration throughout the curriculum. This includes content taught; hours and types of teaching; and effective assessment, grading, and promotion plans. The Integration Committee is also charged with designing new courses or modifying existing courses to improve vertical and horizontal integration. This committee is also responsible for the ongoing evaluation of curriculum content on a detailed level to identify gaps and redundancies and directing discussions among basic and clinical science faculty to improve these areas in the next cycle of teaching.

  

Academic Technology Subcommittee

Membership:  Director of Technology, who shall chair the committee, Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education, First, Second, Third and Fourth Year Student Technology and Mobility Officers, one Graduate Student, one Basic Scientist, one Clinician, one library representative, and one representative from the Delphi Center. 

Responsibilities: The Academic Technology Subcommittee coordinates and evaluates School of Medicine academic technology initiatives and recommends new initiatives to the EPC that utilize technology to support student learning. The Subcommittee oversees the Academic Technology Office to ensure effectiveness in serving the needs of students, faculty, and the school and for the technological infrastructure to support curriculum integration, delivery and assessment.

Each EPC subcommittee will meet, on average, monthly or bimonthly.  A subcommittee chair may appoint a limited number of ex-officio members to facilitate the work of the committee. 

Minutes of EPC advisory subcommittee meetings will be distributed to the EPC members.  All subcommittee minutes will be reviewed at the second EPC meeting of each month.