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COPS vs other problem based curriculums


Guest EngMaster

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Guest EngMaster

For those of you who are attending Dal, can you comment on the features of the COPS curriculum and how would you say it compares to other problem/case based curriculums at other schools? It seems that almost every school claims to have some sort of problem/based curriculum, I suppose all based on Mac's. Is COPS unique in any way compared to say McMaster in terms of the curriculum?

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Guest CaesarCornelius

Im not exactly sure how it works at other schools but this is a basic rundown of how it works at DAL.

 

4-6 Lectures per week usually all in one theme (ie: CV, RESP, UPPER LIMB...etc)

 

6 Hours of small group tutorial (7-8 people + 1 tutor) on monday/wed/fri (ie: approx 2 hrs per day)

 

The tutorial sessions run by giving us parts of a case and asking us to work through it. The case relates to the weeks 'theme' and usually complements the lectures. Issues where we are lost/don't understand are created and assigned as a sort of 'homework'. At the next tutorial session we meet and present our issue.

 

large group wrap up session on friday for 1 hour to discuss the case with a clinician.

 

 

These small group sessions are used for other units besides the main one. Same basic principle though.

 

I hope that wasn't too confusing.

 

CC

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Guest Blackbird15

Hey CC,

just out of curiosity, how many hours of courses (lectures, labs, etc) do you have per week? What is a typical day like at Dal?

 

thanks,

Blackird

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Guest CaesarCornelius

The better question would be "what is a typical week like"??

 

well here is a generic week

 

Monday: 8:30 Lecture 9:30-11:30 Tutorial 12:30-1:30 Lecture 1:30-2:30 lecture

 

Tuesday: 8-12:30 Clinical Methods (resp, cardio, msk, GI) 1:30-3:30 Clinical Epidemiology

 

Wednesday: 8:30 Lecture 9:30-12:30 Tutorial 1:30-4:30 Elective

 

Thursday: 8:30-12:30 Some sort of patient/doctor thing. right now its in psychiatry. 1:30-5:30 Lab

 

Friday: 8:30 Lecture 9:30-11:30 Tutorial 11:30-12:30 Case Wrap up

 

 

There are random things thrown in the mix usually every week. they sometimes put more lectures on tuesday and friday afternoons.

 

The labs also vary by unit, for example we had 2 lab sessions per week in anatomy.

 

I hope that helps.

 

CC

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Guest Blackbird15

Thanks CC! It's always interesting to see how things are done in other med schools. You have sooo few lecture hours... sigh....

 

take care,

Blackbird

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Guest CaesarCornelius

Hey

 

No problem.. That is really the point of our curriculum (fewer lectures).

 

However, the responsability is put back on the student to learn the information. So, they give you an outline of what you should know, and then you have to go learn that information.

 

It causes my classmates a lot of problems, as we are used to the system where you are tested only on what you learn in lectures.. So come test day, you find out how much self directed learning you actually accomplished.

 

CC

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