AMEE Medical Education Guide No. 5. The core curriculum with options or special study modules

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Abstract
A core curriculum with options, or special study modules, is a response to the major problem of content overload. Mastery of the core, which may cover knowledge, skills and attitudes, ensures the maintenance of standards: the options or SSMs (special study modules) allow in-depth work and the achievement of higher-level competences, such as critical thinking. Students, encouraged to take more responsibility for their own learning, can choose the subjects they study. The core curriculum can be specified in various ways. This is the responsibility of teachers, of subject specialists, the medical profession more generally, and of the public. An SSM may entail a more detailed study of part of the core, where the student has already acquired prerequisite basic knowledge or skills. An SSM may cover a medically or clinically related topic, such as sports medicine and the locomotor system. SSMs can be completely unrelated to the core and indeed to medicine, e.g. studying a foreign language. Options or special study modules may be: integrated in the core teaching; concurrent with core teaching, in time set aside for the purpose; in intermittent blocks of time during the course, allocated for the purpose; or sequential, with an option block arranged to follow each core block. The sequential approach offers many advantages. Time for SSMs is protected from encroachment by the core. It makes possible an ‘assessment-to-a-standard’ approach. This ensures that all students master the core and allows for the different times it may take students to do so. Any disadvantages of introducing a core curriculum with options or special study modules are greatly outweighed by advantages, both for students and teachers. The core and options concept is one of the most significant current advances in medical education.