The following abstracts have been accepted for presentation at this meeting in Poster format in the category of Curriculum.  Those selected for Oral Poster Presentations are so designated in the far right column.
 
 

C1	SHIFTING FROM PAST TO MODERN EPIDEMIOLOGY IN AN UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL CURRICULUM Ioan Bocsan, M.D., Ph.D.*, Department of Community Medicine and Family Practice, Epidemiology Division, The Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy Department of Epidemiology, Cluj-Napoca, Romania  Epidemiology as a basic science for preventative medicine has been traditionally taught as epidemiology of infectious diseases to the undergraduate medical students of the final year. This was the traditional curriculum for all European former socialist countries for many decades and also in my university since it was founded in 1919.  In 1994, a curricular reform was proposed in this medical field. The curriculum has now been changed, replacing the huge amount of exclusive knowledge on infectious diseases with essential data on basic epidemiology, causality, clinical epidemiology, prevention, primary health care, and of course general aspects of infectious diseases too. All these were moved from the final year curriculum to the second year curriculum (21 hours of lectures and 21 hours of practical training). Lectures of 16 hours as well as 16 hours practical training for the final year students have been maintained, with regard to epidemiology, prevention and control of cardio-vascular diseases, cancers, respiratory infections, enteric infections, viral hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, and nosocomial infections. This radical curricular reform was initiated and developed in the frame of a USAID/World Vision International grant, entitled “Creation and development of a Department of Community Medicine and Family Practice”. On the occasion of creating the first university chair in Family Medicine within the Romanian medical higher education network, five disciplines (Epidemiology and Primary Health Care; Medical Informatics and Biostatistics; Hygiene; Health Care Management/Health Care Policy; Family Medicine) were accepted. The evaluation of the project and latterly the assessment of the new approach to teaching preventative medicine disciplines, epidemiology included, were very positive, so much so that another two of the existing ten state medical schools in Romania have copied the model and are now developing such units. At the end of the project, the First International Conference of Primary Health Care was organized, with people from eight countries from two continents (Europe and North America). This successful conference was the trigger in the creation of the medical specialty of Family Medicine in Romania in 1997.  This innovation of introducing medical students with basic epidemiology early in their medical higher education was a successful method of linking epidemiology with all other preventative medicine disciplines in undergraduate medical education. The results were presented on different occasions, including prestigious scientific meetings such as the 1996 APHA Annual Meeting and were highly appreciated by auditors. We suggest this model as one of the best approaches for implementing epidemiology early as a standard way of thinking in the future doctor’s mind.	ORAL
C2	ADDRESSING THE STIGMA OF CHRONIC ILLNESS EARLY IN THE MEDICAL CURRICULUM: THE STIGMA OF HIV/AIDS Gloria A. Casale, MD, MSPH*  Fellow in Healthcare Policy Development, Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine, Washington, DC 20036 U.S.A. Most medical curriculums include courses which positively modify physician-students' attitudes about patients engaging in risky behaviors or who have chronic diseases.  The stigma experienced by patients with HIV/AIDS presents opportunities to introduce concepts of preventive medicine and epidemiology as well as patient and caregiver coping responses early in the curriculum.  In addition, the realities of the HIV/AIDS pandemic present a critical, multifaceted public health issue. Currently, educational programs targeting health care workers are designed to diminish the stigmatization of  PLWA.  The reported efficacy of these programs will be described.  A learning plan to modify attitudes of student physicians when treating PLWA will be proposed.
C3	CURRICULUM DESIGN OF A FOUR YEAR ORTHODOX SCIENTIFIC MEDICAL SCHOOL: INITIAL BLUEPRINT WITH OBJECTIVES. Gilbert Edward Corrigan M.S. M.D. Ph.D* , Chief of Laboratories, University Medical Center, 2390 West Congress, Lafayette, LA 70506  U.S.A. In the United States of America, the last generation of medical educators have enlarged their schools without the development of many new schools. A saturation of public and governmental institutions capable of managing a medical school enterprise is suggested by this inertia. To anticipate a new era of medical school enterprise in the United States, an open internet-available protocol for a valid scientific medical school enterprise is provided. It is called a blueprint for a community medical school.  The plan includes a rigorous fully-enabled scientific premedical requirement, a program for selected admissions free of prejudice but with a scientific bias;  a full and complete two year basic science experience without exception of any  basic science and with required attendance, dissection, and live laboratory experimentation; and a full and complete two year clinical experience incorporating service in all of the clinical disciplines without exception to include skills in patient examination, knowledge of biopsychosocial medicine, and mastery of physical diagnostic skills.  Objectives for all courses are present. The author provides some private ethical considerations. http://hometown.aol.com/tigergil/ccms.html.
C4	CURRICULUM 2001 CORE COMPETENCIES AT THE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IGNACIO A. SANTOS OF THE INSTITUTO TECNOLÓGICO Y DE ESTUDIOS SUPERIORES DE MONTERREY  A. Cid, M.D.*, L.L. Elizondo, M.D.; G. Medina, Lic., J. Ibarra, M.D., A. Dávila, M.D., C. Hernández, M.D., M. Hernández, M.D., Ignacio A. Santos School of Medicine, Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Monterrey, Nuevo León  Mexico Outcome based education is a must.  For the past two decades, we have been too worried and our attention too focused on new teaching-learning methods and assessment tools.  Although these curricular issues are very important, it is around the desired outcomes that the teaching-learning methods and assessment tools should be centered.  What knowledge, skills, attitudes and values do we expect and want our medical students to acquire when they finish undergraduate medical education? The Ignacio A. Santos School of Medicine of the ITESM has established the “core competencies” and the particular components of each competency.  But, How do you evaluate or assess if the students have developed them? A group of faculty members together with the Curriculum Committee have also described what we call “observable actions” for each component of the competencies.   It is through these observable actions that we can assess if the students have developed such competencies. Core competencies include: 1) Clinical skills; 2) Diagnostic Procedures; 3) Therapeutic management; 4) Preventive Medicine; 5) Communication skills; 6) Information Handling; 7) Application of basic and clinical sciences; 8) Ethical and Legal Responsibility;  9) Critical thinking and problem solving skills; 10) Understanding of the doctor within the health system and 11) Personal development and Professional Behavior.  A complete description of the competencies, their components and observable actions for each one are described.	ORAL
C5	USE OF COHORT MENTOR GROUPS FOR SHAPING PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY, EMPATHY AND COLLABORATIVE LEARNING TO SUPPORT A REVISED MEDICAL SCHOOL CURRICULUM Patrick A. Lattore, MSED, Ph.D.*, and Clive R. Taylor, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Educational Affairs, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA  90033 U.S.A.  A new curriculum for years one and two is being implemented.  In concert with the national focus upon achieving and maintaining broad based 'Competencies' in Medicine, our curricular change required higher and more effective levels of faculty/student communication and professional modeling as well as new forums for student accountability, integration, and evaluation.  Current practice provided few models of successful innovations in teaching professionalism, ethics, empathy, collaboration skills and building emotional capacity.  We sought a new approach - the use of senior faculty mentors in combination with cohort-learning groups.  These two concepts have been around for many years but have not been effectively utilized in medical education to impact first year students. As a technique, mentoring has been found to develop a deeper relationship than role modeling, lecturing or precepting.  The mentor's roles and functions are varied and numerous; the mentor guides, assists, and counsels students longitudinally through their development as professionals as well as provides opportunities for the learners to gain new skills and professional insights.  Cohort groups provide identity, community and peer interactions, and therefore create the environment that enables personal and professional growth. In a class of 169 students, seven cohort groups with approximately twenty-four students were formed as learning communities.  Each of these communities was further divided into four groups of six who were assigned to work together in our "Introduction to Clinical Medicine"; gross anatomy labs and case based work groups.  Two mentors were assigned to each cohort group representing basic science and clinical practice and met with their groups weekly for two hours. At the end of their first semester, the students were asked where they had gained skills in relation to the 'Competency' goals of the Keck School of Medicine.  More than 75% of the students reported that in the mentor groups they had gained skills related to 1) effective communication and collaboration; 2) ethical judgment, and 3) self-awareness, self-care, and personal growth.	ORAL
C6	MAIN FEATURES OF THE CURRICULUM 2001 AT THE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IGNACIO A. SANTOS OF THE INSTITUTO TECNOLÓGICO Y DE ESTUDIOS SUPERIORES DE MONTERRE.  L.L. Elizondo, M.D.,* A. Cid, M.D., M. Hernández M.D.,  Ignacio A. Santos School of Medicine, Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Monterrey, Nuevo León  Mexico The Ignacio A. Santos School of Medicine of the ITESM underwent a two-year period curriculum revision process where faculty members, students and directors were deeply involved.  After a thorough analysis of information provided by all subcommittees, the Curriculum Evaluation Committee reached decisions regarding the main features that should conform the new Curriculum 2001. These curriculum 2001 main features include: It is competence based It is a spiral curriculum with horizontal and longitudinal integration of Basic and Clinical Sciences. It is student centered. PBL is the main teaching-learning strategy. Clinical Skills lab is introduced from the very first semester. Students have clinical exposure from the first semester. It is community oriented. Emphasis in Preventive Medicine and Primary care. Special attention to assessment methods. Curriculum implantation started in August 2001.  Students are about to complete their first year of studies.  We are now working in a process of Curriculum Evaluation that will be continuous, instead of periodic.
C7	INTEGRATION IN BASIC SCIENCES: MOVING FROM PBL MODULAR-DISCIPLINE BASED COURSES TO A PBL MULTIDISCIPLINARY INTEGRATION BLOCK. L.L. Elizondo*, Ignacio A. Santos School of Medicine, Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Monterrey, Nuevo León  Mexico Integration of disciplines into blocks is difficult because teachers are not too eager to “loose sight of their own discipline”, since individual disciplines seem to loose its identity and are not identified as such in the timetable.   However moving into the integration ladder up to the inter-disciplinary level facilitates a deep approach to learning; enhances student motivation; fosters knowledge application; promotes staff communication; reduces information overload; avoids fragmentation and achieves higher level objectives. At the Ignacio A. Santos School of Medicine of the ITESM, an inter-disciplinary horizontal and longitudinal integration is one of the most important changes of the new curriculum 2001.  Out timetable does not include individual disciplines such as anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pathology, pharmacology, immunology or embryology, for instance. Contents of these disciplines are distributed throughout the career in a spiral way through a system-based-PBL curriculum, in which all of these disciplines are integrated horizontally in what we call the PBL “core” course of each semester, as well as longitudinally.  We describe an example of such integration.  During the 6th semester respiratory system rotation, students are given a chronic lower respiratory tract infection patient problem.  Patient problems are constructed in a collaborative form by all tutors involved.    Integration of the phatophysiology, physiology, biochemistry, and spiral integration of anatomy, and embryology in relation to the problem, takes place during the tutorial PBL sessions, under the guidance of the rotation tutor.  Pharmacology, pathology, immunology, microbiology and public health issues are also integrated during discussion in relation to the problem on alternate days under the guidance of the disciplines tutors.  Integration is one of the main features of our new Curriculum 2001.	ORAL
C8	THE “STUDENT PRACTICE PROFILE PROJECT” – AN EXAMPLE OF AN OVERARCHING PRINCIPLE FOR INTEGRATED CURRICULAR DESIGN Z.H. Elza Mylona, Ph.D.*, A.V. Abbott, M.D., R. Ben-Ari, M.D., F.P.J. Dixon, Ph.D., D.D. Elliott, M.D., and C.R. Taylor, M.D., Ph.D, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90089 U.S.A. Following a recent re-accreditation visit by the LCME, the USC Keck School of Medicine implemented a new curriculum in 2001. At the core of this new curriculum is the Student Practice Profile Project (PPP). This project addresses several of the recommendations of the LCME; to create an “overarching principle” that will serve to govern the form and content of the new curriculum, to enhance clinical relevance, and to assure competency of experience and knowledge in basic and clinical sciences. The PPP is a collection of clinical cases designed to cover the desired clinical experience and related core knowledge for an idealized fourth year medical student prior to graduation. The PPP includes the 200 most common and /or important clinical conditions encountered in the US today.  Cases were included in the PPP based upon national and Los Angeles County disease incidence statistics. Each of the cases is a “virtual patient, ” with details of clinical presentation, a full history, types and results of tests and procedures, differential diagnoses, therapies, disease courses and outcomes. The PPP represents a central principle/theme in the Keck School of Medicine curriculum revision effort. The 200 selected cases serve to define the syllabi and the desired outcomes of the educational process. Systematic study of these cases promotes integration of teaching and learning across both basic science and clinical disciplines. In this respect, the PPP serves as the “overarching principle” of our curriculum by: 1) defining the essential knowledge base that will enable our graduates to make a successful transition to residency training, and 2) providing a vehicle for improved coordination of curricular content, in that all basic and clinical science course material must relate to one or more of the PPP cases. An appropriate technological infrastructure for the PPP is being developed as the curriculum is implemented. This includes a database of all cases easily accessible through the Web, and bi-directional hyperlinks between individual cases and related basic science and clinical course materials. In this way all proposed lectures and labs are specifically tied to one or more cases. Student competency with the curriculum will be determined by the demonstration that the student has completed each of the PPP cases prior to graduation, either as a “virtual patient,”  or as a real-life case while on clerkships.
C9	HOW EMPATHIC ARE THEY?  A LONGITUDINAL INTERPRETIVE LOOK AT INNATE EMPATHY IN THE MEDICAL SCHOOL CLASS OF 2002 B.W. Newton, Ph.D.*, E. Cleveland, M.D., Mildred Savidge, Ph.D., L. Barber, M.D., J. Clardy, M.D., and P. O’Sullivan, Ed.D.,  The College of Medicine and the Office of Educational Development, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR  72205  U.S.A. Empathy is a characteristic patients expect in their physicians.  The Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES; Dr. Mehrabian) was used at the beginning of each academic year to follow changes in innate empathy of students at UAMS.  Our prior empathy data revealed significant decreases in innate empathy between entry level M1s and those starting the M4 year, and showed that students choosing low patient contact specialties (non-core) had greater decreases in BEES scores than students choosing high patient contact specialties (core).  This study uses categorical trait interpretations, defined by Mehrabian, to illuminate the UAMS class of 2002 empathy data.  The mean innate empathy level for all retained students (n = 118; M1/M4) remains “average”.  Examination of M1 & M4 core vs. non-core students shows all BEES scores to be “average” except for M4 non-core students, which dropped to “slightly lower” than average.  Overall, 53% of the students dropped 1 to 5 interpretive categories, 23% increased 1 to 2 categories, while 24% stayed in their originally designated category.  The table shows that increases were greatest in the lowest empathy categories as students progressed from the M1 to the M4 year: regardless of M4 specialty choice.  While the majority of M4 medical students (48.3%) have “slightly high” to “slightly low” innate empathy, a notable cadre of core & non-core students (11.9% & 18.6%, respectively) have BEES scores that are greater or equal to 1 SD below the norm.         Number of M1 Students Number of M4 Students Empathy Category SD Percentile Core Non-Core Core Non-Core VEH + EH 2.5 to 2 99.4 to 98 5 1 3 1 VH + MH 1.5 to 1 93 to 84 16 6 16 5 SH + A + SL 0.5 to -0.5 69 to 31 41 31 34 23 ML + VL -1 to -1.5 16 to 7 6 11 12 18 EL + VEL -2 to -2.5 2 to 0.6 1 0 2 4 Very Extremely High (VEH), Extremely High (EH), Very High (VH), Moderately High (MH), Slightly High (SH), Average (A).  Equivalent qualifiers for the low (L) BEES scores.
C10	ELECTIVE IN GROSS ANATOMY: MODEL FOR RETURN TO BASIC SCIENCES IN THE SENIOR YEAR N.H. Rubin, Ph.D.* and B.T. Miller, Ph.D., Department of Anatomy & Neurosciences, The University of Texas  Medical Branch, Galveston, TX  77555-1069  U.S.A. For over 20 years our department has offered a senior level elective in anatomy, which has always appealed to students anticipating residencies in fields such as radiology, pathology, obstetrics & gynecology, and surgery and the surgical subspecialties.  Four years ago a new hybrid curriculum was introduced for students in Years 1 and 2 in which the discipline-based traditional basic science courses were eliminated, and introductory material is presented in new, albeit compressed, courses.  The traditional gross anatomy course was shortened from 14 to 8 weeks and is now abbreviated and incorporated into Gross Anatomy & Radiology.  Ideally, the organ-based courses of the second year should revisit and expand on anatomy, but in reality this seldom occurs.  So it is not surprising that many students reaching the third and fourth years realize that their knowledge of anatomy is inadequate for residencies that emphasize a working anatomic knowledge.  Students are enthusiastic about their return to a “basic science” because by this time they are more focused on clinical relevance, and they seem to enjoy all elements of our course.  Our elective fulfills many of the principles of our integrated medical curriculum: It is student-centered and fosters independent learning – students choose a region to dissect, often based on career aspirations, e.g., extremities for orthopedic surgery.  They choose articles for journal club and topics for final oral presentations, e.g., “Clinical and Anatomic Reasons for Open versus Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy.”  Preparation of the final presentation allows students to gain expertise on a topic that is usually related to their residency choice; many students are in the process of interviewing for residencies and hope to have the opportunity to impress an interviewer. Learning is active, because, with the exception of a few didactic sessions, they choose what and how much to learn. Faculty time is used to clarify, to discuss, to stimulate, and to guide. Student dissections are often geared to clinical scenarios, e.g., breast reconstruction with autogenous tissue flaps. Multiple modalities of learning are available, e.g., the Socratic method at the cadaver; computer-based tutorials, pretests, and tests on cross-sectional anatomy; web searches for anatomy-related websites; and attendance at gross pathology conferences. With these and other evolving elements, the senior elective in anatomy thus provides a “return to the basic sciences” learning experience.  This elective fosters independent learning and builds life-long learning skills at a time in the students’ medical education when focused basic science topics are most meaningful.
C11	BRINGING BASIC SCIENCE TO THE THIRD YEAR OF MEDICAL SCHOOL: INTEGRATIVE PBL CASES WITH PAIRED MULTIDISCLIPINARY FACILITATORS Frazier T. Stevenson*, E.A. Amsterdam, P.D. Cox, and R. Gandour-Edwards, Univiversity of California, Davis CA  95616  U.S.A. Question:  PBL is now common in the year 1-2 curricula of many medical schools. One of its demonstrated strengths is the integration of clinical and basic science. Can this be achieved within the third year clerkships? Course Structure:   PBL cases in the third year are 6 hours long, spread over 3 weekly sessions. Group size ranges from 8-9 students. Seven cases are offered, done in conjunction with a clerkship, requiring 7 different cases to run each clerkship block. Cases are more advanced than those of years 1-2, and are derived from charts of real patients. Case structure varies, ranging from dialogues between clinician and patient (psychiatry clerkship) to complex presentations of ICU lab and clinical data (medicine). X rays, pathology, and other visual data are presented by computer website.  Faculty: Unlike the mixed “non-expert” PBL facilitators used in years 1-2, the exclusively clinical faculty in year 3 cases are matched to the case topic. Faculty are often paired to bring contrasting approaches to the case. Examples are: Liver failure, transplantation  --  surgeon and internist Anorexia and Crohn’s disease in an adolescent  --   pediatrician and psychiatrist Respiratory failure, ICU management, chronic lung disease --  internist and anesthesiologist 26-28 faculty per block (150 total for 2001-2) are trained using undergraduates as model medical students and direct feedback from core PBL faculty. Clinical faculty are trained to facilitate discussion of basic science and mechanism. Evaluation:  Students have rated the cases and faculty highly (5.91 and 5.87 on a 7 point scale), and do not rate surgery, psychiatry, or primary care (pediatric, internist, family practice) facilitators differently. There is considerable student divergence over the course’s “usefulness in the curriculum” (3.89 on a 5 point scale)—some students comment on it as useful chance to reflect and analyze within the apprenticeship model, while others object to its drawing them away from patients. Faculty course feedback is more positive, with a 4.51/5 “usefulness” rating. The clerkship directors support the course and facilitate sessions frequently. Maintaining quality control over far-flung cases is challenging to PBL course directors. Groups do not consistently focus on basic science correlations (faculty rating 3.6/5, students 3.9/5). Conclusion:  While challenging to administer and defend against student attraction to the third year apprenticeship model of learning, PBL is a useful way to bring pathophysiology and basic science into the third year of medical school.
C12	ASSESSING THE USEFULNESS OF A COURSE WEB SITE: MEDICAL STUDENT PERCEPTIONS Julie B. Walsh, Ed.D.*, Peter Smith, Ph.D., Department of Physiology and Biophysics Undergraduate Medical Education, University of Alabama School of Medicine, 1530 3rd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL  35294  U.S.A. Purpose:  The Medical Physiology Web site, designed to augment the Medical Physiology course, became available in January 2000. The site has evolved from presenting basic information to providing students with more interactive and visual material. After two years of development and student use, assessing the overall usefulness of the site and the various site features has become essential for further refinement. The purpose of this study was to:  Determine how often the students use and how useful they find the Medical Physiology Web site in supplementing the Medical Physiology course  Identify what existing features of the Medical Physiology Web site students find most useful and what features they would like to see added to the Web site Identify any advantages/disadvantages with using a Web site to supplement the Medical Physiology course Methods:  Medical Physiology students from the 2001/2002 academic year were surveyed. The survey was Web-based and included both closed- and open-ended questions An email message with a request to complete and a link to the online survey was sent to the 159 students enrolled in the Medical Physiology course. Three email messages reminding students to complete the survey followed up the initial message. Results:  154 students (97%) completed the survey. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis. Over 96% of the students use the Web site in varying degrees with 94% finding it useful in supplementing the course. The most useful features identified by students include slide shows (94%), a course calendar (91%), and quizzes (82%) while the least useful feature was the Web page with links to other Web resources (39%). Constant comparative analysis, used to examine qualitative data for emergent themes, revealed both student identified advantages and disadvantages with using the course Web site. The most cited advantage was that the Web site material is both comprehensive and centrally located (f =49). Slide inaccessibility via a modem was the most cited disadvantage (f =31), which was closely followed by the need for multiple passwords to access information (f =27). The features that students identified as those that they would like to see added to the Web site include access to more exams and quiz feedback. Conclusion:   A well-planned, effectively designed, and well-maintained Web site designed to augment a course will likely be used by students because they will find it a useful tool in supplementing the course material and in assisting them with their organization and learning.
C13	THE IDENTIFICATION OF A MODEL FOR INTEGRATIVE CURRICULUM CHANGE Lynn C. Yeoman, Ph.D.*, Richard V. King, Ph.D., Yvonne M. Coyle, M.D., Jennifer Cuthbert, M.D., Rebecca T. Kirkland, M.D., M.P.H., and Claire Huckins, Ph.D., The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, TX  75390  and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX  77030  U.S.A. Baylor College of Medicine (Baylor) and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (UT Southwestern), as participants in the federally funded project, CATCHUM (Cancer Teaching and Curriculum Enhancement in Undergraduate Medicine), are exploring ways to integrate cancer learning experiences throughout the curriculum. This interest led us to examine the conditions for successful integration not only of cancer but other curriculum content. UT Southwestern, which has a discipline-based curriculum, conducted a structured survey and interview of 6 schools that recently underwent integrative curriculum changes. Baylor recently completed a more extensive revision of the first 5 months of their integrated preclinical curriculum. Using Baylor’s expertise in curriculum integration in combination with the survey results, we identified a set of factors associated with successful integrative curriculum change. The forces that initiate curriculum change vary from external influences (such as the LCME) to internal, institutional influences that are mission- and goal-based. The elements of a change model that have emerged include: motivators (accrediting organizations, national trends, institutional goals, and financial support), success factors (institutional support, faculty buy-in, and student acceptance), barriers (faculty and student resistance to change, and faculty competencies), and medical areas amenable to integration (e.g., cancer, genetics, prevention, medical ethics, and behavioral medicine). These factors provide direction for making major or incremental integrative curriculum changes throughout the preclinical and clinical years.
C14	DESIGNING A NEW MEDICAL EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM BASED ON “CLINICAL PRESENTATIONS”: OMANI PERSPECTIVE Yousef Al-Weshahi MD*, Ian Hastie MD, Omar Al-Rawas MD PhD, Mansour Al-Mundhari MD PhD, Ibrahim Inuwa MD PhD, Mohammed Al-Zaabi MD, Hamdoon. Al-Namani BSc, Loay Al-Riyami MD, Issa Al-Qarshoubi MD, Amal Ziada MD PhD, Yaseen Al-Lawati PhD, Bazdawi Al-Riyami MD PhD, Musbah Tanira PhD. College of Medicine, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat,P.O.Box 35, P.C. 123 Al-Khoud,Oman The medical education programme in Oman is 16 years old. Our only medical school (Sultan Qaboos University) uses a traditional curriculum to deliver its educational programme (EP). The EP was managed by two curriculum committees, one for the basic medical sciences programme (awarding a BSc in health sciences) and another for  the clinical component (awarding an MD). To comply with the current trends in medical education, the two committees were merged into an integrated one in the year 2000. The main aim for  the new committee was to reform the  EP based on the attributes of a generalist in medicine working in Oman, i.e. an outcome-based curriculum. To attain its goal, the committee consulted  the clinical departments to compile a list of common clinical presentations. These presentations were collected and compared with available international information and a new complemented list of presentations was produced. A differential diagnosis list for each presentation was then generated and edited  which resulted in approximately 600 clinical entities. The lengthy process to generate a detailed list of “final” as well as “enabling” (i.e. contribution of medical sciences) objectives for each clinical presentation has been initiated. A detailed list of clinical presentations and clinical entities have been produced. Lists of final objectives and enabling objectives are being generated. The paper/poster will discuss the origin, advantages and limitations of this method providing examples of our work.