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Progress April 2011

Since C21 commenced in September 2010, the foundations upon which the success of the project will be built have been established.

A lot of very unglamorous but necessary work has been done behind the scenes, such as developing the project plans, drafting the control strategies, building relationships and establishing the Project Board.

But there have also been some significant progress and achievements which are worth highlighting.

During January, the University conducted a consultation exercise which focused on two of the five work streams which make up the C21 project: improving the existing MB BCh curriculum and the development of a new programme for 2013-14.

From almost 200 responses; 87% of respondents agreed that the time is right to review medical education in Cardiff and 93% agreed that the aims of the project are appropriate.However, while almost all agree there is much to be done, it is important not to lose sight of the fact that there is a lot which is already good at Cardiff - 95% of respondents identified areas of good practice within the existing programme. A summary report on the consultation will be available in early May but in the meantime, more information on the results from the exercise are available in the following article.

Perhaps most importantly were the large number of ideas, concerns and suggestions which emerged from the consultation and which now need to be considered further. To do this we have established four projects with 18 sub groups which have been tasked with reviewing particular areas and developing proposals and recommendations for improving undergraduate medical education.

The outcomes of the consultation also featured in the inaugural Curriculum Conference which was attended by over 150 staff, students and colleagues from across the NHS in Wales. The day featured a panel of expert speakers and provided an opportunity to showcase the excellent work already underway to improve the quality of medical education in Wales.

Feedback from the event was excellent – with 100% of delegates finding the day enjoyable and 96% finding the event useful - and to build on the success of this event we are planning a series of events, curriculum conferences, and away days . Visit the news and events page on the C21 website for more information.

The conference also provided an opportunity to launch the recruitment for three further leadership roles within the project.There has been considerable interest in taking on the roles of Academic Lead for E-Learning, Academic Lead for Staff Development and Feedback Champion are we are currently shortlisting with the successful candidates due to be announced in mid-May.

These vacancies follow shortly after the appointments of Miss Helen Sweetland as Vice Dean for Medical Education, Dr Kamila Hawthorne as Director of Community based Learning, Prof Phil Smith as Sub-dean for Assessment, Dr Rhian Goodfellow as Director of Phase 2, Professors Ole Petersen and Ken Woodhouse as joint Directors of Phase 1 of the undergraduate curriculum, and Professor Paul Bradley as Director of Skills and Simulation.

With many of the project leads now in post, the next six months promises to be a busy period which will culminate in the Curriculum Away Day where we will present the best practice guidelines, the proposed learning outcomes for the 2013 medical programme, and the revised curriculum structures – there’ll be an opportunity for you to discuss the proposals and make suggestions before they are put out for wider consultation.

But the past six months have not just involved planning and preparation, the Existing Programme Renewal project, led by Miss Helen Sweetland, is already implementing changes to enhance the experience of our current students.

Plus proposals to review the transition of students from our existing feeder streams onto the 5 year programme and to introduce a new four year graduate entry scheme for science-only graduates (SciGEM) have been produced and are currently being considered by the University.

That brings you up-to-date with some of the work which has been carried out thus far, and here’s a few of the highlights to look out for over the next few months…

  • Further proposals to enhance the existing medical programme will be presented to the School of Medicine’s Board of Medical Studies (April and July).
  • Recommendations for the structure of the ‘harmonised’ final year/Foundation Year 1 will be presented to the Harmonisation Steering Group (May) and the C21 Project Board (June)
  • The detailed Consultation Report will be published (May) summarising the feedback provided and setting-out how these issues will be addressed within C21.
  • From June onwards provisional recommendations from the project groups, including proposals for the structure of the 2013 curriculum, will begin to emerge and these will be presented at the Curriculum Away Day on 16th September.
  • The results of the 2011 National Student Survey will be published (September) along with a project response.
  • October 2011, sees the opening of the Cochrane Building on the Heath Park campus.This £18m investment, provides a new state of the art home for undergraduate medical education in Cardiff.