Badging in the MD Curriculum
Badging in the MD Curriculum
Badging was approved as a required form of curriculum by the Undergraduate Medical Education Committee (UMEC) on October 7, 2020, acting upon the recommendation by the Curriculum Evaluation Management Committee (CEMC).
Badging grew out of a curriculum review process conducted at the direction of UMEC and was led by the Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning. The purpose of the review centered around Domains 7 (Interprofessional Collaboration), 8 (Personal and Professional Wellbeing), and identified needs within the curriculum. During this process, a committee of 15 individuals comprised of faculty, administrators, librarians, instructional designers, and students spent one year reviewing literature and curriculum, and proposed the adoption of badging as a means of providing and documenting required curriculum.
Badging addresses a unique set of challenges:
- The University of North Dakota's competencies are not outcomes measured at a single point in time, such as memorizing the names of different parts of the anatomy. They are the synthesis of multiple knowledge, skill, and attitudinal outcomes as applied over time in medical profession settings. This means we must require students to demonstrate them over time.
- The identified competencies and attitudes are not linear and conclusive, but are instead demonstrated at different levels of accomplishment over time and with experience. This means we must assess these competencies at different levels of mastery.
- While attitudes can be partially assessed through formal assessment methods, they must be assessed by the choices students make in the contexts in which those attitudes should be demonstrated. This means we must assess these competencies in part by the choices students make over time.
- The Physician Competency Reference Set (PCRS) was employed and is the basis for our Domains and Competencies using Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs). EPAs serve to link behaviors with each competency from day one of Undergraduate Medical Education to Residency. This system provides means to document competencies as they occur within Undergraduate Medical Education (UME).
- Because mastery of these competencies requires both knowledge and attitudes, it is important that they be documented within the normal workflow and practice of aspiring medical professionals. This also allows students to do so by documenting things they are already doing for other purposes which are also evidence of the competency.
While students are able to pursue any badges available through the University of North Dakota, there are currently only two badging programs have been approved for the MD Curriculum:
1. Interprofessional Collaboration: Approved by UMEC on April 21, 2021, and implemented in July of 2022 for the Class of 2026 and beyond. Primary contact- Dr. Eric Johnson.
2. Telehealth: Approved by UMEC on June 28, 2023, and implemented in July 2023 for the Class of 2027 and beyond. Primary contact- Dr. Richard Van Eck.