The term "curriculum" is a bit of a misnomer for the Global Pediatric Curriculum. We use the term "curriculum" to refer to a set of educational documents that define and translate the 12 primary competencies that are thought necessary for pediatricians to gain during training and to maintain throughout their careers as physicians. The Curriculum is set up into chapters. The first three chapters cover all the 12 aspects of competency and can be used to create a standard curriculum and to use for determining areas to assess during and following training. Chapters 4-7 layout a set of high-level recommendations that can be used at the country or local level to set up a training or assessment program, national certification, or a standard CPD program.
Scroll down for brief descriptions of each chapter.
Chapter One
The first chapter covers the first 10 aspects of competency as listed above, that is: Ethics in Practice; Collaboration; Global Health Awareness; Patient Safety and Quality Improvement; Research Principles and Evidence-based Practice; Scholarly Activity; Self-Leadership and Practice Management; Communication and Interpersonal Skills; Health Advocacy and Children’s Rights; and Professionalism. The level of mastery is specified under each area of competency and a set of learning objectives are contained in each section to assist with teaching and learning.
Chapter Two
Chapter Two contains a listing of “skills” that should be acquired during training and relates to the 11th area of competency outlined above. The skills fall into three categories 1) Diagnostic and Assessment, 2) Procedural, and 3) Therapeutic. Under each skill there is a listing of the “basic” procedures that a resident should become proficient in or become familiar with or be able to interpret. The three sets of skills are key to general pediatric care which a general pediatrician should be able to master by the end of training to the level specified.
Chapter Three
Chapter Three is the largest chapter and is structured as an extensive outline of the areas of clinical practice that should be taught during training and relates to the 12th and final area of competency outlined above. It is sub-divided into areas that focus on organ and body-systems, critical and emergency issues, abuse, development, adolescence, and community/prevention.
We believe we have adopted a unique way of presenting the learning objectives. In any clinical encounter with a patient, a doctor should first take a history, then obtain a thorough physical examination of the patient and use this information to formulate a differential diagnosis. The diagnosis may then be confirmed by laboratory, or other, investigations and lead to the appropriate management plan. We have therefore mapped our learning objectives to each of these stages of clinical assessment; history, physical, diagnosis and management to guide learning and teaching directly to these key clinical activities. Throughout this chapter we have taken special care to note when it is appropriate for the pediatrician to consult with others on the healthcare team to safely and effectively manage many pediatric conditions. Our focus on pediatric training is the “general” pediatrician and not the pediatric sub-specialist. An important aspect of any physician’s life and practice is to know his/her limits and to know when to reach out to others for assistance. This critical component of practice is highlighted throughout the document to emphasize the importance of this concept.
Chapter Four
In this chapter we present a set of recommendations for setting up and administering a residency training program. These are high-level recommendations that can be incorporated into an existing training program or for use when developing a new program. Recommendations include suggestions for an overall training approach, adequate composition of the faculty, patient settings for residents to gain optimal clinical experience, recommendations for patient mix that best optimizes the training experience, certain aspects of curriculum development, and basic rotational experiences for residents.
Chapter Five
Chapter Five provides recommendations for creating a robust assessment program within a residency training program. GPEC adheres to the concept that assessment is crucial to effective training. This chapter provides guidelines for assessment based upon leading resources. Core concepts include: how to assess the key components of training, the basic requirements of measurement and psychometric rigor, formative and summative assessment advice, and the appropriate kind and level of feedback that should be provided to residents throughout the training experience.
Chapter Six
Chapter Six takes best practices from countries where individual certification programs exist and distills it down into key recommendations for creating a nationwide or local certification program. The certification process marks the end-point of training and is meant to determine if a high-level of competence has been met by trainees at the point of graduation. Guidelines include the notion that certification should be a process that evaluates the professional credentials of the graduate, examines his/her acquisition of knowledge from a standard curriculum, includes a robust examination process based upon a criterion of acceptable performance, and that the process ensures a thorough review of all of the 12 GPEC areas of competency.
Chapter Seven
This chapter describes guidelines that we recommend for developing a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) program. While outside the strict purview of the residency training setting, it is the obvious extension to lifelong learning and the continual evaluation of a pediatrician’s competence throughout their career. Guidelines include recommendations for creating a program that can be tailored by the pediatrician to their own learning needs, providing access to quality learning resources, ensuring that quality of care is part of the CPD process, that the program include a rigorous evaluation of knowledge periodically, and that the entire process of lifelong learning be designed to be part of the day-to-day activities of the pediatrician and not trivial or meaningless activities.
* Throughout the Curriculum document, the term resident is used to describe a physician during post-graduate, specialty training.
