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Standing Education Committees

Medical Education Council (1.1)

The Medical Education Council (MEC) was approved by the Dean as the central authority for curriculum development, implementation and evaluation by the Medical Council. The MEC will consult with departmental DEOs, the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education, the Office of Consultation and Research in Medical Education (OCRME) or others as indicated. 

The MEC has the authority to creat subcommittees to implement and assess the curriculum.  These subcommittees are responsible for the basic functions of the college and include committees related to student performance, curriculum development and implementation.

Voting members shall consist of no more than 14 individuals with one vote each. 

Ex-officio voting members include: Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education; Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Curriculum at the Branch Campus (or their designee), and the chairs (or designees) of subcommittees of the MEC which include the Medical Arts and Sciences Committee, the Clinical Experiences Committee, the Strand Directors Committee, and the Curriculum Assessment Committee. Terms for the subcommittee chairs on MEC will be for the duration of their service as subcommittee chair. 

Other voting members will consist of five electived faculty representatives from any department but no more than one from any given department; one representative from OCRME; and two student representatives.

The CCOM faculty will elect the five faculty representatives. Candidates can be self-nominated and will be permitted to submit a statement for attachment to the ballot regarding their qualifications and interest. If there are fewer than five candidates the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education will appoint the remaining members. Terms last three years and are renewable one time at the discretion of the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education.  

The representative from OCRME is an OCRME member appointed by the OCRME Director. Appointments are based on perceived needs of the council. The term length will be one to three years at the discretion of the Director, and it is renewable.

Student representatives will be from M2-M4 years. Student Government will determine their method of selection, length of term and term limits, if any. Ad hoc non-voting members may include others appointed by the Chair of the Council to represent educational interests or provide advice.

The MEC will be chaired by the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education and one of the five elected faculty representatives will be selected to serve as the Assistant Chair of the committee. The Senior Associate Dean will appoint the faculty co-chair. A secretary will be appointed by OSAC and will be responsible for recording and distributing the minutes of the meetings in a timely fashion as well as maintaining records of the committee activities. Meeting times, location and frequency are determined by the council chair.  

Charges to the Medical Education Council

The Medical Education Council shall be the designated faculty body that will have integrated institutional responsibility for the overall design, management and evaluation of the Carver College of Medicine medical education program. The MEC will develop, oversee implementation of, and evaluate policies related to the educational mission of the college. The MEC will respond to matters brought to it by the Dean, faculty, staff or students of the College of Medicine and delegate matters to subcommittees as appropriate.

Duties and Responsibilities of the Medical Education Council 

  • Define overall goals and objectives for the curriculum to ensure a coherent and coordinated longitudinal curriculum
  • Determine required courses/clerkships, length of semesters/clerkships
  • On a regular basis, review various program evaluation data and requirements to determine the status of the curriculum and plan for future improvements to curriculum.
  • Assist the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education in the LCME accreditation process
  • Develop policies concerning grading structures, requirements for graduation and related matters.
  • Regarding course, clerkship and curriculum directors:
    • Review applications/nominees for course, clerkship, and strand directors and recommend appointments to these positions to the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education
    • Ensure the performance of course, clerkship and strand directors on a regular basis and take appropriate action based on that evaluation.
    • Participate in reviews of collegiate education-related units, and represent education interests in COM strategic planning, facilities planning, and related matters.
    • Recommend to the Dean policies and procedures for recognizing and rewarding faculty for teaching

Medical Arts and Sciences Committee (1.1)

Membership

  • Voting members shall consist of all course directors for all required courses in the pre-clerkship curriculum, the Chair of the Medical Arts and Sciences Committee, three students designated by the Student Government, and the Associate Director of the Pre-clinical Curriculum.
  • Curriculum managers are non-voting members, except when delegated by an absent course director.  Strand directors are non-voting members.
  • The Student Government will determine the method of student selection, length of term and term limits, if any.
  • Ad hoc members may be appointed by the Chair or the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education.

Charge to the Medical Arts and Sciences Committee

  • Implement, manage, and review the pre-clinical curriculum.
  • Report at least annually to the Medical Education Council on the state of the pre-clerkship curriculum.
  • Respond to matters assigned to it by the Medical Education Council or the Senior Associate Dean.

Duties and responsibilities of the Medical Arts and Sciences Committee include but are not limited to:

  • Conduct reviews on focused content areas specific to the pre-clinical curriculum.
  • Recommend and implement policies for ensuring quality in courses and fairness in assessments
  • Annually review all required pre-clinical courses and oversee the implementation of identified revisions to the courses.
  • Subsequent to each course review, the chair and corresponding strand director(s) will meet with the course director and curriculum manager to discuss the findings of the review and changes to the course.
  • Review available national data to benchmark phase 1 outcomes of the curriculum in order to identify any aspects in need of improvement.
  • The committee, with assistance from OSAC, will maintain a central repository (e.g., SharePoint site) to record committee work.  Access to the repository will be available to strand directors, designated OSAC staff, deans, and other committee chairs as determined by MEC. Course review documents will be maintained in the central repository and will be accessible to students.

Clinical Experiences Committee (1.1)

Membership

  • Voting members shall consist of all required and selective Clerkship Directors (including clerkship directors at the Des Moines Branch Campus), the Chair of the Clinical Experiences (CEC) committee, four students, the Associate Director of the Clinical Curriculum, and the Assistant Dean of the Des Moines Branch Campus or their representative.
  • Required and selective coordinators are non-voting members, except when delegated by an absent clerkship director.  Strand directors are non-voting members.
  • The students shall be from the M2-M4 years. The Student Government will determine the method of student selection, length of term and term limits, if any.
  • Ad hoc members may be appointed by the Chair or the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education.

Charge to the Clinical Experiences Committee

  • Implement, manage, and review the clinical curriculum.
  • Report at least annually to the Medical Education Council on the state of the clinical curriculum.
  • Respond to matters assigned to it by the Medical Education Council or the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education.

Duties and responsibilities of the Clinical Experiences Committee include but are not limited to:

  • Review and provide input to the MEC regarding clerkship objectives and sequence of instruction within and across the clinical curriculum.
  • Review the clinical curriculum to identify and address redundancies and gaps.
  • Enhance integration of foundational science content within the clinical curriculum.
  • Conduct reviews on targeted areas of need specific to the clinical curriculum.
  • Recommend and implement policies for ensuring quality in courses and fairness in assessments.
  • Assist with coordination of scheduling, facilities, and other resources both within and across semesters.
  • Conduct in-depth review of each required core clerkship and selective clerkship every two years.
  • Subsequent to each clerkship review, the chair and Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education will meet with the clerkship director and department chair to discuss findings of the review and changes to the clerkship. 
  • Review available national data to benchmark phase 2 outcomes of the curriculum in order to identify any aspects in need of improvement.
  • The committee, with assistance from OSAC, will maintain a central repository (e.g., SharePoint site) to record committee work.  Access to the repository will be available to strand directors, designated OSAC staff, deans, and other committee chairs as determined by MEC. Clerkship review documents will be maintained in the central repository and will be accessible to students.

Curriculum Strand Directors Committee (1.1)

Membership

  • Voting members of the Strand Directors (SD) Committee shall consist of all strand directors.
  • Non-voting advisory members shall consist of the Senior Associate Dean for , Medical Education, Chair of the Medical Arts and Sciences Committee (MASC), Chair of the Clinical Experiences Committee (CEC), Chairs of the Assessment Committee, and Associate Director of the Pre-clinical Curriculum.
  • Ad hoc members may be appointed by the Chair of the SD Committee or the Senior Associate Dean for OSAC.

Officers

  • The Chair will be appointed by the MEC in consultation with the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education. The initial length of term will be two years but may be renewed by the Senior Associate Dean. 
  • A secretary will be appointed by OSAC and will be responsible for recording and distributing the minutes of the meetings in a timely fashion as well as maintaining records of the committee activities.

Meetings

Meetings of the voting members will typically be held weekly throughout the academic year at a time and place to be decided by the committee chair in consultation with committee membership. Non-voting advisory members, or their proxies, are invited to attend Strand Director Meetings on a once monthly basis, or more frequently by invitation.

Charge to the Strand Directors Committee

  • Develop the sequence of content and integration of content within concurrent courses and across the 4-year curriculum informed by reviews of phases and curriculum outcomes.
  • Develop and maintain curriculum maps for documentation.
  • Collaborate with the Assessment Committee on developing and reviewing the collegiate learning objectives.
    Review and recommend changes to course and clerkship directors regarding their learning objectives (to ensure these are useful in curriculum mapping).
  • Periodically review strand content and anticipate future needs in emerging content areas.
  • Respond to requests from members of the faculty, students, or others to include significant new curricular content, or significantly alter existing content, so that content changes are systematic.
  • Serve on any ad hoc committees formed by CCOM leadership concerning curriculum content.
  • Manage the Curriculum Repository and other curricular content mapping tools.  
  • Advise the deans/administration regarding the resources and tools required by the SD in order to perform its duties.
  • Develop portions of the institutional self-study documents for accreditation.
  • Coordinate with the Assessment Committee regarding curriculum assessment.

Authority of the Strand Directors Committee

  • Each preclinical course will be assigned to one of the three strands to form Strand Subcommittees. Course directors/co-directors and curriculum managers will be members of the subcommittees, directed by the strand director (co-director). The subcommittees will meet on a regular schedule, determined by the strand director. The purpose of these subcommittees will be to coordinate the design and implementation of the preclinical curriculum. 
  • Each core and selective clerkship will incorporate aspects of the 3 curricular strands (MOHD, MAS, CAPS).  The strand directors will meet regularly with core and selective clerkship directors to coordinate the design and implementation of clinical curriculum and the vertical integration with the preclinical curriculum.

Duties and responsibilities of the Strand Directors Committee include but are not limited to:

  • The Chair of the SD committee will be a voting member of the MEC.
  • All Strand Directors will be non-voting advisory members on MASC and CEC.
  • A Strand Director will be a voting member on the Assessment Committee. This assignment will be determined by the SD committee and the designee will be responsible for sharing information from the Strand Directors to inform the work of the Assessment Committee and to report the work of this committee back to Strand Directors.
  • The Chair will ensure that SD decisions and needs are communicated to the appropriate OSAC Dean or staff member.
  • Strand directors will communicate regularly with course and clerkship directors regarding strand content.
  • The Committee will report at least annually to the MEC regarding the state of the curriculum content (annual curriculum review), as well as the projects they have completed in the past year, and projects for the coming .year
  • The committee, with assistance from OSAC, will maintain a central repository (e.g., SharePoint site) to record committee work. Access to the repository will be available to strand directors, designated OSAC staff, deans, and other committee chairs as determined by MEC.
  • Maintain ongoing communications with the Assessment Committee on projects/needs related to curricular assessments.

Assessment Committee (1.1)

Membership

  • Voting members shall consist of the Director of the Office of Consultation and Research in Medical Education (OCRME), up to 3 additional members from OCRME with evaluation expertise appointed by the Director, an Assistant or Associate Dean from the Office of Student Affairs and Curriculum, a Student Member, the Clinical Skills Assessment Director, the Associate Director of Pre-Clinical Curriculum, a representative for the Clinical Phase curriculum, the CCOM Registrar, a current or recent Course Director from the Pre-Clinical Curriculum, a current or recent Clerkship Director from the Iowa City campus, a Clerkship Director from the Des Moines branch campus, and a Strand Director
  • Ad hoc members may be appointed by the Chair(s) or the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education.
  • Members will serve overlapping 3-year terms with the rotation to be determined by the Committee Co-Chairs. Terms may be renewed at the discretion of Committee Co-chairs.

Officers

  • The Chair or Co-Chairs will be appointed by the MEC in consultation with the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education. The initial length of term will be three years but may be renewed by the Senior Associate Dean.
  • A secretary will be appointed by OSAC and will be responsible for recording and distributing the minutes of the meetings in a timely fashion as well as maintaining records of the committee activities.

Charges to the Assessment Committee

  • Assess the extent to which the curriculum has achieved the collegiate educational objectives and report the results to the MEC.
  • Recommend to the MEC and Senior Associate Dean/OSAC ways to improve assessment of the collegiate objectives with regard to the variety, specificity, sufficiency and quality of outcome data.
  • Develop portions of institutional self-study documents for accreditation.
  • Assist OCRME staff who monitor compliance with accreditation elements to identify or create sources of data for use in monitoring specific elements.
  • Ensure that course and clerkship evaluation surveys are of good quality and contribute to broader curriculum assessment uses (see section on Authority).
  • Coordinate with the Strand Directors Committee with regard to curriculum assessment.

Authority of the Assessment Committee

  • The Assessment Committee determines a subset of questions (aka “standard” questions) that must be included in student evaluations of courses or clerkships.
  • The Assessment Committee establishes acceptable procedures and policies for the administration of course/clerkship evaluations and appropriate use of the resulting data, including who may have access to the data.

Duties and responsibilities of the Assessment Committee include but are not limited to:

  • Determine data sources and measures to evaluate the phases of the curriulum and each collegiate objective; work with course/clerkship directors, OSAC staff and IT to collect the data from existing sources; conduct surveys as needed (such as residency director surveys); analyze and assess aggregate student achievement of the objectives based on benchmarks determined by the MEC.
  • Report annually to the MEC concerning the phases of the curriculum and the status of achievement of collegiate objectives.  When needed, make recommendations to improve the state of data sources, methods, and instruments used to assess collegiate objectives. 
  • At least every 3 years, review standard questions on course and clerkship evaluations to determine if they continue to meet collegiate needs for assessment data.
  • Place all policies regarding acceptable procedures and policies for the administration of course/clerkship evaluations and appropriate use of the resulting data within a section of the Educator’s Handbook. At least every 3 years, review these procedures and policies.
  • Maintain a calendar of responsibilities (i.e. assessment reviews, membership terms, etc.)
  • Maintain ongoing communication with the Strand Directors Committee on projects/needs related to curricular assessments. 
  • Respond to requests from OCRME staff to assist with their work in monitoring accreditation elements.
  • The co-chairs of the Assessment Committee will communicate with MASC, CEC, OSAC staff or others regarding the decisions within the authority of the Committee that affect courses or clerkships.
  • The Committee will maintain records of its work (meeting minutes, reports) and actions taken, for historical purposes and to prepare accreditation self-studies or other reports for the LCME.
  • The Committee, with assistance from OSAC, will maintain a central repository (e.g., a SharePoint site) to record committee work. Access to the repository will be available to Strand Directors, designated OSAC staff, deans and other committee chairs as determined by MEC.

Student Support