Mapping the undergraduate dermatology curriculum: a useful tool towards implementation of national recommendations.

BACKGROUND

Despite the high prevalence of skin complaints in primary care and secondary care, dermatology undergraduate (UG) education remains inconsistent across medical schools. The British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) published a revised national UG curriculum in 2016 to guide UK medical schools on the minimum competencies required in dermatology.

AIM: The aim of the study was to determine the alignment of the BAD UG curriculum with the dermatology curriculum of the University of Nottingham School of Medicine.

METHODS

A curriculum mapping study was undertaken with the development of an electronic searchable database tool to map key areas.

RESULTS

Of the 70 intended learning outcomes (ILOs) for dermatology in the medical school, 55 (79%) were mapped to the BAD curriculum, while 14 (20%) required modifications to align them with the BAD ILOs. Two BAD ILOs were unspecified in the current curriculum, and one was deemed redundant.

CONCLUSION

Curriculum mapping is a useful tool to standardize local dermatology ILOs to national recommendations and provides transparency to stakeholders for implementation of the dermatology curriculum.