Exploration of a graduate academic medical fellowship program: an approach to evidence-based medical curriculum development

Abstract

Leadership within higher education begins with modeling and disseminating sustainable evidence-based decisions that can be incorporated into educational practice using evidence-based curriculum. While the use of the evidence-based decision-making has been significantly studied (Barrett et al., 2018; Farley-Ripple & Cho, 2014), many educators struggle at putting it into practice (Lauderdale-Littin & Brennan, 2018) due to issues related to data literacy and social modeling practices that frame epistemological worldviews. The purpose of this research was to evaluate physician leaders within the academy and their own understanding of evidence-based decision-making in medical curriculum design. A pre-and-post survey was administered to participants (N = 10) in a Graduate Certificate in Academic Medicine (GCAM) Fellowship at a local university in central Texas. Mixed methods were employed by using the quantitative findings from the survey to assess self-declared confidence and its association to the fellow’s actual use of evidence-based reflective practices in designing medical curriculum. Interviews and artifacts (e.g., assignments built into the academic medical curriculum course) informed conclusions about the fellows’ progression in use of evidence-based practices. Barriers to evidence-based decision-making illustrate the importance of incorporating leadership feedback mechanisms that can address potential barriers to successful implementation in practice, particularly where educational systems assess quality through a linear lens.