Development and implementation of a cardiovascular system course at the International Medical College: a new innovation in medical education

The International Medical College (IMC) teas established ill Kuala Lumpar i n 1993 ii partnership with several established medical schools, to provide a preclinical curriculum for students before they complete their clinical t raining in the partner schools. The curriculum is system based and multidis ciplinary with an emphasis oil problem-based learning. This paper describes the planning and implementation of the cardiovascular system course at the IMC. The development of the course matrix was defined in terms of the week ly themes and course content with the Study Guide providing an interface be tween the curriculum planners and the students. The timetable of learning e xperiences included the plenary sessions, practicals, small-group learning, clinical skills and hospital experiences. The strengths and weaknesses of the first iteration of this course at the IMC are discussed and reviewed in relation to the performance of students oil their final examinations and t heir evaluation of the presentation of the course.