You are the Instructor of your Clinical Distinction course.
If you want to be a great instructor, there are a few things you need to understand about creating a curriculum. These are the ingredients of a successful curriculum:

The Core Competencies are the course learning outcomes for the Clinical Distinction Course.
The framework of the core competencies has been carefully chosen to ensure that through your clinical distinction course you are

- Becoming prepared to be an intern and a physician
- Able to communicate effectively at a residency interview about your learning process and progress.
- Writing about your Clinical Distinction Course in a way that residency directors will find compelling.
The Core Competencies Describe What the Student Should Learn‘s
The seven core competencies of osteopathic medical education are described in detail in the AACOM’s publication, Core Competencies for Medical Students. You can read about TUCOM’s Structural Competency here.
But wait, why not use these as learning outcomes?
- Publish a paper
- Do a lit review
- Learn medical Spanish
- Teach nutrition to an underserved population

These are the activities of projects. And they might in fact be goals students set for their project – but they are not learning outcomes! Learning outcomes describe what you learned. If you published a paper, you probably learned about a bit about evidence-based medicine. You probably got better at the process of communicating through the written word. You likely learned some medical knowledge or perhaps you learned about patient care options.

Your competency growth is, without a doubt, more important than what activity you complete and what topic you choose.
Tips

In selecting Core Competencies it’s important to dive into what each one means, as the list on this page is just a shorthand that does not give the depth or detail of learning expected in each Core Competency. To adequately select Core Competencies download this document and review those that you are considering.

If you use the same activities for two CD courses, you might choose different competencies. For example, in course 1 focus on systems-based practice and evidence-based medicine and structural competency as you learn about abortion and in the second clinical distinction (CLIN 718) you may be focused on patient care and communication and professionalism as you perform clinical activities at a planned parenthood clinic that provides abortions.

Even though many activities allow learning in all or most of the core competencies, the student’s task is to select 1-4 competencies on which they will focus. It’s about quality, not quantity. This allows students to describe an authentic, and specific, process of growth.
More Information
This is a key step in selecting your track and designing your project. This is a great topic of conversation to have with your CD course director.

Assistant Dean of Faculty Development

Assistant Dean of Curriculum

Director of Enrollment Management and Student Success

Clinical Distinction Course Coordinator
The following video is a great introduction to Competencies, EPAs, and understanding how to use them in your contract.
Check out these learning modules on Canvas (Coming soon)