Measuring the Effect of Curricular Change - Residency Directors’ Perception of Graduates and Graduates’ Perception of Preparedness

Mary Pat Wohlford-Wessels¹ and Diane Hills^2*, ¹Kansas City University of Medicine and Bioscience, Kansas City, MO  64106,USA, ²Des Moines University, Des Moines, IA 50312,USA.

Purpose

In 2002-03 (Class of 2005), we introduced several changes to the second year curriculum in the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Des Moines University.  To determine whether these changes affected the performance of the graduates, we looked at the perception of their residency directors after they had completed their first year of graduate medical education and compared the results to those of the Class of 2004. We also assessed the graduates’ perception of their preparedness for residency.

Methods

Surveys were mailed to the residency directors of 189 graduates of the Class of 2004 (original curriculum) and of 178 graduates of the Class of 2005 (modified curriculum).  The graduates were rated on a 5 point Likert scale on 17 skills and characteristics.  In addition, the graduates were surveyed by mail to determine their perception of their preparation for graduate medical education; they were asked to rate their preparedness in 12 areas on a 4 point Likert scale.

Results

The overall average score for the Class of 2004 was 4.26 and for the Class of 2005 was 4.28 (5 high).  The survey of the graduates did show a difference in the scores of the two classes in their perception of preparedness:  Class of 2004: 3.30 and Class of 2005: 3.13 (4 high).

Conclusions

The changes in the curriculum did not affect the quality of the performance of the graduates in the view of the residency directors.  However, the graduates who experienced the revised curriculum were less confident of their abilities.