The first four weeks of the course, for example, are organized around the theme of nutrition. The anatomy and biochemistry of digestion are mingled with the genetics of a particular disease state, such as diabetes. Along the way, topics such as normal growth and development and epidemi- ological factors associated with different diets are woven in to create a deeper understanding of the complexities of human health and disease. And to move the information from theory to practice, students are asked to record their own diet histories, access the USDA’s food pyramid online to analyze their data, and then combine the data of the class cohort to identify trends.


WhyNow? Medical schools across the country are responding to pressures on several fronts to make medical education more consistent with modern learning theories and more accessible to a new generat ion of students. Accrediting standards f rom the Liaison Committee on Medi c a l Educ a t i on (LCME), for example, now r equi r e mo r e c ont ent integration, more active learning and greater clinical experience earlier in the curriculum. Similarly, the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) has begun testing students on their ability to apply basic science content within a clinical context— including a demonstration of clinical skills—rather than simply testing factual knowledge of immunology or physiology, for example. With the body of clinically applicable data expanding daily, physicians can no longer rely on memorized facts. Evidence-based educational learning theories are being applied more readily within medical


education to help young doctors sort through and apply rapidly changing information.


“You have got to learn a way to manage information,” Waggoner-Fountain said. “My goal is to teach them how to assess information and to give them the basics of understanding so that they can sift through the information and know whether it is accurate or not.”


As adul t learners, medical students also want to know why they need to learn something. They learn bet ter when new information is placed in context and they have a chance to apply it i m m e d i a t e l y . Formative feedback is essential to this proc e s s , and the technology built into the new learning studio enables instructors to mo v e e a s i l y be twe en informat ion shar ing and assessment, problem solving and


application.


“If you can put the learners into an environment where they can connect new information to previous knowledge, they not only learn more but have fun doing it,” says Associate Dean for Curriculum Donald Innes, Jr., MD. “I think this new curriculum will help us do a better job of making learning a more enjoyable experience, despite the hard work it requires.”


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