An Intranet-Based Neuropathology Curriculum: Abundant Resources in an ACGME Wrapper
Philip J. Boyer MD; University of Colorado Health Science Center; Bette K. DeMasters MD; University of Colorado Health Science Center; Joshua J. Sprabary ; Enterprise Computing Associates;
Content:
The subspecialty of neuropathology encompasses diseases of the central nervous system, pituitary, and neuromuscular systems, each with specific etiologic processes and data sets including classification schemes and diagnostic criteria. Given the breadth and depth of the field, it is challenging to present a coherent "curriculum" to (1) meet the needs of the education of medical students, residents, and fellows who rotate through the neuropathology service and (2) satisfy Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education guidelines.
Technology:
Resources were compiled on a departmental Web server and accessed after authentication within the medical center intranet. Access is through standard Web pages with information stored as HTML documents, downloaded as Adobe Acrobat PDF or Microsoft Word files, or accessed through ADO.NET typed datasets or ASP.NET objects.
Design:
Organized around defined objectives, materials were grouped by (1) etiologic process (neoplastic, developmental, traumatic, toxic-metabolic, infectious, inflammatory, degenerative, and hypoxic-ischemic), (2) the specific domains of neuropathology (surgical pathology, adult and pediatric autopsy neuropathology, forensic neuropathology, neuromuscular pathology), and (3) scheduled four and eight week rotations. For each etiology or domain, relevant topic lists; faculty lecture syllabus and Powerpoint files, PDFs of key references, diagrams, and tables; representative macroscopic and microscopic images; and links to Internet resources were compiled. Pretest and posttest scores will be tracked by a learning management system and will be used for documentation of progress toward meeting both knowledge and proficiency objectives. To comply with fair use restrictions, resources are accessible only by intranet to students, residents and fellows, staff, and faculty after authentication.
Results:
This on-line resource is being deployed for use beginning with the 2007-2008 academic year. Feedback obtained from trainees and faculty members and hits on the resources will be used for refinement and improvement.
Conclusion:
This neuropathology intranet curriculum provides easy access to a diverse set of resources for use in training. In addition, with an "ACGME wrapper" -- replete with objectives, content, and pre-test and post-test assessments -- this resource helps to satisfy at lest four of the six ACGME general competencies and provides assessment tools to assist in the documentation of achievement of educational objectives.
