Graduation Competencies
Competencies for Graduates of the University of Kansas School of Medicine
Educational Objectives of the School of Medicine
The educational program of KU School of Medicine-Wichita has a clear purpose: to prepare a graduate who is both ready to begin the residency phase of his/her education and has a solid foundation in the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors necessary for a successful life-long career in medicine. Over the past decades, the faculty has developed, refined and used specific objectives that collectively achieve these two linked goals. This revision continues our process of continually updating and improving our educational objectives in order to better prepare our graduates for rapidly changing scientific and medical environments.
The faculty have adapted each ACGME objective to the medical student stage of education. For each objective, specific measurable competencies have been identified that verify attainment of the objective. In other words, an objective is what we want the students to achieve and the competency is how we prove they can do it before advancing to the next stage of medical education.
Two important points must be made about the attached document. First, it describes the graduate in broad terms, integrating factors from multiple courses. As the "final common pathway," this summative document is part of a complex, interlinked educational process. Detailed descriptions of the specific knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors required of our learners are found in the objectives and competencies of the individual courses. The course documents also specify the types of medical conditions experienced, evaluation tools used and levels of attainment required to assess students. Information about student performance on individual courses is summarized in the final evaluation (Medical Student Performance Evaluation - MSPE). The MSPE plus performance on national examinations and the cumulative clinical skills assessment form the basis of the overall evaluation of each student.
Second, the competencies articulate foundational or core requirements. We expect and encourage learners and educators to build on these and to continually seek to improve. In turn, we accept the responsibility to continually examine our educational programs in order to set the high yet achievable standards expected of a modern medical school.
This document was developed by the faculty of the School of Medicine with input from students, residents, alumni and others. It articulates our concept of a modern KUSM-W graduate who is well prepared for life-long learning and professional service in any area of medicine. Please click on the link below to view the Graduation Competencies document.