UHS develops new curriculum for MBBS

The University of Health Sciences (UHS) has developed a competency-based assessment curriculum for medical colleges, under which the students will learn through direct student-patient encounters from day one of their education.
Named as "Assessment Directed Medical Education (ADME) curriculum," it will provide opportunity to medical students to learn through structured, supervised simulated-patient/real-patient encounters presenting common problems that require practical and analytical solutions.
The work, which has recently been presented by UHS controller of examinations Professor Junaid S Khan at an international conference on "Innovations in Medical Education" held at Pasadena, California, USA, is based on the theory that assessment methods and requirements have a greater influence on how and what students learn than any other single factor.
The curriculum is based on the modern concept of Assessment Driven Integrated Learning (ADIL) system developed by Professor Junaid, which is the ultimate step forward in the competency-based, self directed learning experience. This would be a paradigm shift from teaching to learning through experience using resources available under expert supervision throughout the programme.
Highlighting the salient features of the new curriculum, Professor Junaid said that it would define the competencies that should be gained by medical students at the end of their MBBS course. It would indicate educational strategies that could be used for a problem solving, critical thinking learning process. Moreover, it would also foster self-directed, life-long learning traits in our medical students, he opined.
He further said that the new curriculum would take the teaching and training from out of the lecture halls and tutorial classes into simulation labs and skills laboratories from day one of the MBBS course and progressively to workplace and day-to-day patient encounters and patient-care areas. Professor Junaid said that UHS wanted to introduce this concept as the ultimate step forward to a self-directed, authentic, real time, live learning experience through direct action.