Establishment of the basic Embryology curricular core in undergraduate Medical course

• Grant number: 17/05234-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2017
• End date: December 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Embryology
• Principal Investigator: Luís Antônio Violin Dias Pereira
• Grantee: Ana Clara Gonçalves Rebellato
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The international scenario for medical education requires taking the challenge of defining the essential core curriculum (topics) for discipline contents. The main reason is that theoretical knowledge increases in an accelerated rhythm while the individual workload of each discipline is reduced. This research has the purpose to define, in a collaborative way, the basic Human Embryology essential curriculum for medical undergraduate courses. This approach will incorporate quantitative data obtained from electronic forms sent to specialists from different medical education institutions using the modified Delphi Technique, based on consensus methods, to detect relevant contents of basic Human Embryology to be included or reviewed in the currently proposed curricular core. The project will continue the research line "Development and Evaluation of Materials and Methods for Teaching Embryology" and will have two phases. In the first phase, a group of experts will be invited to compose a Delphi Panel. Consensus for the essential curriculum of basic Human Embryology be set by filling out an electronic form containing a survey of all the curricular topics covered in Human Embryology reference books, with the purpose of classifying the relevance of the curricular topics in: "essential", "very important", "moderately important", "little important" or "unimportant". Data will be analyzed in order to detect curricular topics that are pertinent to the learning and clinical application of basic Human Embryology. In the second phase of the study, after defining the basic Human Embryology core curriculum, specialists (former Delphi Panel) will be invited to evaluate and approve the resulting document by means of a validation form. The database containing the list of curricular topics removed from reference books in the area of Human Embryology and the final document of the essential basic Human Embryology curriculum will be submitted to a specialized peer-reviewed journal. With this investigation, we expect to identify gaps in the current curriculum in order to benefit medical education and emphasize a multidisciplinary, ethical and humanistic approach of basic Human Embryology contents, so that this selection allows a medical education more coherent with the guidelines of medical undergraduate curriculum. (AU)