A Study About Medical Curriculum Design Of Chinese Comprehensive University

After a long silence, medical education of comprehensive universities has gradually recovered at the end of the 20th century in China. The recovery is not the reformed result of the macroscopic education system, it is medical education consciously adjust itself to adapt the development of medical health needs and the progress of human society, which reflects a new philosophy of medical personnel training that is stratified and classified training. Medical education of Chinese comprehensive university is just in the top level of this structure, undertake the responsibility and mission of the highest level of elite medical personnel training. This study chooses eight-year Program of clinical medicine and its curriculum design as the main object of research, that is a top-notch representatives of this level medical education, expands the relevant theoretical and empirical research surrounding this subject, focuses on changing the status about the discipline knowledge-centered curriculum design of domestic medical education for long-term, solving existed problems, and exploring a new path about "student-centered" curriculum design to promote the coordinated development of the students’ comprehensive ability.This study has reviewed the development context and historical changes of medical education of chinese comprehensive universities since the founding of new China, summed up the situation and characteristics of its curriculum design, focused on the exploration and reform of personnel training mode and curriculum design of 10 comprehensive universities (excluding military academies) which have set up eight-year Program of clinical medicine one after the other since 2001, and analyzed furtherly the deficiencies of these exploration and reform on its beginning period.To make "Student-centered" as the core assumptions of medical curriculum design of Chinese comprehensive university, proposing the main research questions: if medical curriculum design of chinese comprehensive University needs a new "student-centered" perspective, why and how to carry out medical curriculum design of comprehensive university under new perspective. To make students as the core elements, forming the research hypothesis framework where student is the center, including social factors, teachers and administrators. In other words, the social development is the external factors, is the element dynamic to promote the reform, changes and developments of medical education; the teachers and administrators are internal factors, the main participants of curriculum design, composing of the academic community with students, forming the curriculum design field; trinity of students, teachers, administrators carries out specific activities of curriculum design through cooperative research. Based on the assumptions, and the research questions, we’ve designed the route of research, organized theoretical and practical research.Western philosophy thoughts about holistic development is philosophy starting point of this study for "student-centered" medical curriculum design of eight-year program of chinese comprehensive university, the post-modern curriculum theory is its theoretical basis, the academic community of trinity of students, teachers and administrators is its field for activities, Global Minimum Essential Requirements in Medical Education(GMER) published in 2002 by the International Medical Education Organization is its content (knowledge/experience) dimension, Career long-cherished wish of Medicine recognized internationally is its ideal pursuit. This study has proposed the descriptive analysis framework about the goals, the basic principles, content dimensions of medical curriculum design of eight-year program of Chinese comprehensive university, tested this analysis framework through the 4R standard of the post-modern curriculum theory.Empirical research is a combination of various methods such as questionnaires, interviews, and text analysis. Based on random and stratified survey research on nationwide by probability sampling, conducting qualitative and quantitative study of five cases of domestic schools; By comparing major category and personnel training mode, this study has chosen the two cases from the United States schools to do comparative research. The empirical results have objectively reflected the basic understandings and attitudes abuot the current curriculum design for students, teachers and administrators who are core subject of medical curriculum design of eight-year program, and reflected the necessity and urgency of exploration of the new "student-centered" curriculum design model; The comparative study and analysis of the American case schools is valuable experience of this exploration to prove the feasibility of this exploration. The empirical findings have reflected following problems or deficiencies of medical curriculum design of eight-year program of chinese comprehensive university:(1) as educated subject, students’ overall satisfaction for curriculum design of the school is not high; (2) students, teachers have few opportunities to participate in curriculum design of the school; (3) there are essential differences about goals, the basic principles and the ability dimension of school curriculum design among students, teachers, administrators, the trinity of curriculum design still stays a mutual incomprehensive "fragmented" state where each say own words, the ideal field of curriculum design among the trinity hasn’t yet been formed; (4) elective courses, cultural quality courses, as well as the interdisciplinary integrated courses are obviously lack, the phenomenon that the characteristics of curriculum design is knowledge-centered is still very prominent; (5) the evaluation methods of students’course learning effect are single, closed book exam of pursuing knowledge point to grasp is still the main method of evaluation; evaluation of curriculum design effect is not on the agenda.Based on the real and outstanding issues reflected by the empirical research, regressed above theoretical analysis, this study has proposed a kind of new mode about medical curriculum design of chinese comprehensive university’eight-year program, that is to build a mode where student-centered and researched is core elements, in this case, "student-centered" is the core concept, " researched " is the means and methods by which the core concept is realized. Basised on the re-interpretation about meaning and structure of the school logic, the knowledge logic and the teaching logical, this study has analyzed new logic perspective of this curriculum design model; From the formation of diverse philosophy and the transformation of the concept of human learning, this study has analyzed new ideological foundation of this curriculum design model; From a alternative modeling, this study has analyzed the operability of new curriculum design model. On this curriculum design model, students are center, students, teachers and administrators stay in an equal community whose bridge is research. Although the respective identity and responsibilities are not identical, their goals and values are unified, that is coordinated development of students’ comprehensive ability, the research activities that trinity launches joinly for the development of students are bridges for unity. Therefore, the curriculum design ideas this curriculum design model follows is in line with the thoughts of a post-modern curriculum theory, that is the curriculum design is a progress moving and revising constantly, only when students, teachers, and administrators reach to the suitable consensus on the basic elements including the goals, the basic principles, content dimensions and effect evaluation, it is possible to understand each other and expand effective dialogue; In view of this ideas, students, teachers, and administrators all possess the ability of critical reflection, able to make an objective evaluation and reflection on their own and others’ the actions and thinking, that is the basis on which curriculum design will be constantly revised. In the modeling of the curriculum design, this study has made the inspiration, training and development to students’ interests as the bridge, focused on merging from theory to practice, and from foundation to clinical; This study has divided curriculum design into three stages of general education, basic theoretical education and clinical practice education, divided the course into three broad areas of knowledge, skills and accomplishment, and then according to Seven dimensions of student ability, divided the course content into seven sub-module, through the intersect and the combination of the different course modules, strived to achieve the personnel training objectives of the coordinate development of the students’ comprehensive ability. This study has also carried out the necessary research about curriculum evaluation of eight-year program of comprehensive university, including two dimensions, that is the assessment of course learning effects and evaluation of curriculum design effects. The assessment of course learning effects focuses on the analysis of the practical operation, according to the stages of education and curriculum modules of the new model, to focus on analyzing the selection and use of evaluation method of the course learning effects on different stages, different modules and different combinations, to explore the integrated use of different evaluation methods. Evaluation of the curriculum design effects focuses on the theoretical analysis, including the evaluation dimension and evaluation process; Curriculum design evaluation Should be run through the whole process of curriculum design, during which the trinity of students, teachers and administrators continuely seek common ground while reserving differences, from theory to practice, from practice to theory, the curriculum design carries constantly on conscious reflection and adjustment during the process. This study suggests that the purpose of the curriculum design evaluation should be to correct and improve, to adapt to the growth and development of students, and not just to judge the level of academic achievement and good or bad.The main contribution of this study is that, to propose a "student-centered" new perspective about medical curriculum design of chinese comprehensive university, to base on the post-modern curriculum theory, to demonstrate the academic field and the basic route of medical curriculum design of chinese comprehensive university from theory to practice under this new perspective, to analyze basic connotation of medical curriculum design of comprehensive university from objectives, basic principles, content dimension and effect evaluation of curriculum design, beneficially to explore and attempt on the feasibility mode and modeling. The significance of this study is that, to research systematically medical curriculum design of eight-year program of Chinese comprehensive university from the theoretical level, to provide references for this field to carry out theoretical, empirical and comparative studies and constructing the feasible program. The basic conclusion of this study is that, "a’student-centered’ and ’researched’ curriculum design mode is an ideal choice for chinese comprehensive university to achieve goals of its elite medical personnel training.