Reader Response: Contemporary Neuroscience Core Curriculum for Medical Schools
Ralph FJozefowicz, Professor of Neurology and Medicine, University of Rochester
Submitted October 07, 2021
Gelb et al. present a set of guidelines developed by the AAN Undergraduate Education Subcommittee for a medical school neuroscience core curriculum, and include several helpful tables reporting goals and objectives, a detailed content outline, methods of assessment, and essential faculty.1 Importantly, the report provides a rationale as to why such a course is important in the medical curriculum, and specifies important details such as how much class time should be devoted to the course or how much salary support the course director should receive. It also discusses the pros and cons of various recent innovations in teaching formats, especially in light of changes necessitated by the COVID pandemic.
This is an important document that will help bolster the teaching of neuroscience and neurology to medical students, who will all be diagnosing and treating patients presenting with neurologic complaints across all specialties. It should also prove helpful to neurology department chairs, clerkship directors, and neuroscience course directors when advocating for better neuroscience teaching in their medical schools.
Disclosure
The author reports no relevant disclosures. Contact journal@neurology.org for full disclosures.
References
Gelb DJ, Kraakevik J, Safdieh JE, et al. Contemporary Neuroscience Core Curriculum for Medical Schools [published online ahead of print, 2021 Aug 16]. Neurology. 2021;97(14):675-684. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000012664
Gelb et al. present a set of guidelines developed by the AAN Undergraduate Education Subcommittee for a medical school neuroscience core curriculum, and include several helpful tables reporting goals and objectives, a detailed content outline, methods of assessment, and essential faculty.1 Importantly, the report provides a rationale as to why such a course is important in the medical curriculum, and specifies important details such as how much class time should be devoted to the course or how much salary support the course director should receive. It also discusses the pros and cons of various recent innovations in teaching formats, especially in light of changes necessitated by the COVID pandemic.
This is an important document that will help bolster the teaching of neuroscience and neurology to medical students, who will all be diagnosing and treating patients presenting with neurologic complaints across all specialties. It should also prove helpful to neurology department chairs, clerkship directors, and neuroscience course directors when advocating for better neuroscience teaching in their medical schools.
Disclosure
The author reports no relevant disclosures. Contact journal@neurology.org for full disclosures.
References