Curriculum Reform Committee

For more information about the Genes to Society Curriculum please contact the Office of Curriculum.

History of Genes to Society and Curriculum Reform

In 2003, Edward Miller, M.D., dean/CEO, charged David Nichols, M.D., M.B.A., vice dean for education, to review the undergraduate medical curriculum of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) to ensure JHUSOM graduates continue to become leaders in research, clinical care, and education. Dr. Nichols asked Charles Wiener, M.D. and Gerald Hart, Ph.D. to chair what has come to be known as the Curriculum Reform Committee (CRC). After careful deliberation, the CRC decided the timing was right for a curricular reform. Some of the considerations that led to this decision were:

The need for coordinated avenues to incorporate the explosion of biomedical knowledge, new technologies, and emerging multidisciplinary topics into the curriculum.
A move from a partitioned medical curriculum to one that integrates basic, clinical, and social science throughout all four years and allows students to revisit topics in light of their increasing knowledge base.
The changing view of medicine framed around individual variability rather than the distinct separation between “normal” and “abnormal.”
Societal concerns with health disparities, outcomes, and safety.
Student need for earlier exposure to patients, longitudinal ambulatory experiences, and structured avenues to explore areas of interest.
The need for a curriculum management system to centralize accountability, oversight, financial support, and faculty development.

In Phase I of the reform process, CRC members articulated the direction for the new curriculum and produced a curriculum schematic. Phase II involved over 150 JHUSOM faculty members from both the basic and clinical sciences, administration, and students. 12 discipline-based committees were formed: Cardiovascular, Endocrine, GI/Liver, Hematology/Oncology, Horizontal Strands, Infectious Disease/Immunology, Mind/Brain/Behavior, Renal/Genitourinary, Reproductive Science, Respiratory, and Scientific Foundations of Medicine. Each committee was charged to identify content and content placement within the proposed schematic. The deliverable was a content spreadsheet organized by course from each committee.

After the 2005 Curriculum Reform Retreat, faculty re-grouped into course-based committees. These committees were charged with creating objectives and draft schedules for each course, which were presented at the 2006 Curriculum Development Retreat.

In the fall of 2006, faculty began in earnest the implementation phase of the new curriculum, which meant the charge to the CRC had been accomplished. Transition planning, governance, and implementation of the curriculum will be overseen by the GTS Integration Committee, chaired by the associate dean for curriculum, Patricia Thomas, M.D.

The Genes to Society Curriculum was implemented in the fall of 2009.

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There have been several articles in Change and Hopkins Medicine over the past few years.