Real time curriculum map for internal medicine residency

BACKGROUND To manage the voluminous formal curriculum content in a limited amount of structured teaching time, we describe the development and evaluation of a curriculum map for academic half days (AHD) in a core internal medicine residency program. METHODS We created a 3-year cyclical curriculum map (an educational tool combining the content, methodology and timetabling of structured teaching), comprising a matrix of topics under various specialties/themes and corresponding AHD hours. All topics were cross-matched against the ACP-ASIM in-training examination, and all hours were colour coded based on the categories of core competencies. Residents regularly updated the map on a real time basis. RESULTS There were 208 topics covered in 283 AHD hours. All topics represented core competencies with minimal duplication (78% covered once in 3 years). Only 42 hours (15%) involved non-didactic teaching, which increased after implementation of the map (18-19 hours/year versus baseline 5 hours/year). Most AHD hours (78%) focused on medical expert competencies. Resident satisfaction (90% response) was high throughout (range 3.64 +/- 0.21, 3.84 +/- 0.14 out of 4), which improved after 1 year but returned to baseline after 2 years. CONCLUSION We developed and implemented an internal medicine curriculum map based on real time resident input, with minimal topic duplication and high resident satisfaction. The map provided an opportunity to balance didactic versus non-didactic teaching, and teaching on medical versus non medical expert topics.