Curriculum renewal in child psychiatry

Objective: To ensure uniform design and evaluation of a clerkship curriculu m for child and adolescent psychiatry teaching common disorders and problem s in an efficient manner across 5 teaching sites and to include structures for continuous improvement. Method: The curriculum committee selected for course inclusion disorders an d problems of child psychiatry that were commonly encountered by primary ca re physicians. instruction methods that encouraged active student learning were selected. Course coordination across sites was encouraged by several m ethods. involving faculty, adopting a centralized examination format, and a ligning teaching methods with examination format. Quantitative and qualitat ive methods were used to measure students 'perceptions of the course's valu e. These evaluative results were reviewed, and course modifications were im plemented and reevaluated. Results: The average adjusted student return rate for course evaluation que stionnaires for the 3-year study period was 63%. Clerks' ratings of course learning value demonstrated that the course improved significantly and cont inually across all sites, according to a Scheffe post-hoc analysis. Analysi s of student statements from focus-group transcripts contributed to course modifications, such as the Brief Focused Interview (BFI). Conclusions: Our curriculum in child psychiatry, which focused on common pr oblems and used active learning methods, was viewed as a valuable learning experience by clinical clerks. Curriculum coordination across multiple reac hing sites was accomplished by including faculty in the process and by usin g specific teaching and examination strategies. Structures for continuous c ourse improvement were effective.