Threads and Tracks (Thracks)

Chair: Dr. Norman Retener, Director of Longitudinal Undergraduate Medical Education

The Thracks workgroup was formed to examine subject threads that are not covered in the classical curriculum and their integration in the new curriculum, to explore formulation of new curricular “tracks” for incoming students and integrate clinical skills training into pre-clerkship curriculum.

The Thracks workgroup recommends the expansion of threads, with “Main Focus” threads taking place primarily in the preclerkship years and the “Application” treads taking place primarily in the clerkship years, with the threads being appropriately timed for the students' level. The workgroup believes that producing well rounded physicians has been the hallmark of our institution, and recommends not making Tracks mandatory, but instead offering these to students who are interested. In addition, we recommend expansion of the current offerings of tracks. The workgroup recommends that history/taking and communication should be the focus early in clinical skills teaching, and that the physical exam training/clinical decision making will be taught in conjunction with the systems. Furthermore, each student should have an OSCE prior to graduating to the clerkship years. The workgroup recommends faculty should be trained in both teaching and evaluating for uniformity in the educational experience. Finally, the workgroup recommends that service learning be continued as it exists in ICM 1, with a focus on the area schools.

Sub-workgroups for Tracks and Threads will continue to meet prior to the start of the new curriculum.