Research Curriculum & Learning Environment Working Group

Version 1, August 2024

Introduction

The Research Curriculum and Learning Environment Working Group of the York University School of Medicine is established to provide guidance for the development and application of policies for the development of critical thinking skills with which learners can translate knowledge into clinical practice. The working group will develop the curriculum for research for the undergraduate medical program and collaborate with the Transitional Curriculum Committee (TCC) to ensure the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS) standards and elements are met.

Vision of the School

York University’s School of Medicine will prepare the next generation of talented frontline primary care doctors — who represent the diversity of the communities in which they live and work — to not only thrive in a new interprofessional, team-based health care environment but to continue to adapt to evolving patient, community and health system needs.

Purpose

The Research Curriculum & Learning Environment Working Group is created to develop and recommend priorities and policies for the critical appraisal of scientific literature for the application of evidence-based judgment and practice in the appropriate clinical setting. This approach includes the development of critical thinking and appraisal skills of the scientific literature together with the understanding of and the ability to interpret statistics — the ability to recognize clinically significant versus statistically significant results — and the capacity to develop an appreciation of fit-for-purpose research and evidence hierarchy in the applicability of evidence to guide patient care, population health and clinical decision making. Critically, students will develop a deep appreciation of the fundamentals of implementation science. In this regard, learners will be able to identify barriers and facilitators for evidence-based clinical practice and population health management. A central component of the learning objectives will be the impact of population diversity, inequities and social determinants of health related to health outcomes. Learners will develop necessary skills in the use of and appreciation of information literacy in health informatics and digital health with emphasis on the potential impact of big data in health care and the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning in patient care.

The development of the Faculty Research Curriculum & Learning Working Group will also focus on the importance of use, understanding and importance of the learning environment to engage in inter-professional and team-based learning and practice to improve patient and population health.

The Research Curriculum and Learning Environment Working Group will work in accordance with the following Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS) standards and elements including:

Standard 3: Academic and Learning Environments
- Element 3.2 Community of Scholars/Research Opportunities
  - A medical education is conducted in an environment that fosters the intellectual challenge and spirit of inquiry appropriate to a community of scholars and provides sufficient opportunities, encouragement, and support for medical student participation in research and other scholarly activities of its faculty.

Standard 5: Educational Resources and Infrastructure
- Element 5.4 Sufficiency of Buildings and Equipment
  - A medical school has, or is assured the use of, buildings and equipment sufficient to achieve its educational, clinical, and research missions.

Standard 7: Curricular Content
- Element 7.3 Scientific Method/Clinical/Translational Research
  - The faculty of a medical school ensure that the medical curriculum includes instruction in the scientific method and in the basic scientific and ethical principles of clinical and translational research, including the ways in which such research is conducted, evaluated, explained to patients, and applied to patient care.
- 7.4 Critical Judgment/Problem-Solving Skills
  - The faculty of a medical school ensure that the medical curriculum incorporates the fundamental principles of medicine and provides opportunities for medical students to develop clinical decision-making skills (i.e. Clinical reasoning and clinical critical thinking) including critical appraisal of new evidence, and application of the best available information to the care of patients. These required learning experiences enhance medical students' skills to solve problems of health and illness.

Term

The Terms of Reference is effective from October 1, 2024 and will continue until October 1, 2025, after which they will be reviewed and revised, as appropriate.

Membership

Full Members:

Advisor, Research (Co-Chair)

Health Systems Researcher from a faculty (Co-Chair)

Five (5) representatives from faculties at York University

One (1) research representative from the ICLN partners

One or two representatives from clinical partner institutions

Five (5) community advisors, urban, small town/rural, underrepresented and Indigenous

Ex-officio members:

Undergraduate Medical Education (UGME) Operations Director

Accreditation Committees Project Manager

Operations

The Appointments Committee will meet every two weeks or at the call of the Co-Chairs

The meetings will be 90 minutes in duration

Quorum will be 50% plus one of the committee members

Members serve for one year or sooner if there is a need to revise the Terms of Reference

Meeting minutes reflecting the activities of the committee will be recorded

Committee members are expected to attend meetings, or if unable to do so, send advance notice of their absence

When one Co-Chair is absent, the other Co-Chair will chair the meeting

Key stakeholders, such as advisors internal or external to York University, will be invited to attend on an as needed basis

The Admissions Committee reports to the Dean of Record, Institutional Lead

Committee Member Expectations

Attend at least 75% of the meetings

Prepare for the meetings in advance

Complete agreed tasks in a timely manner

Develop curriculum to align with the CACMS accreditation on research, solicit and contribute collegial input

Roles and Responsibilities

To develop an integrated curriculum and learning environment based, in significant measure, on the use and application of clinical evidence to enable learners and practitioners to offer evidence-informed care to patients and the population.

The development of this committee will inform policies for the recruitment and appointment of new research personnel and create postgraduate/fellowship programs and opportunities for undergraduate students, postgraduate learners, graduate students and fellows.

To develop a framework for the application of research principles across the network of organizations affiliated with the School, including:
- Collaboration on research across sites and disciplines
- Research support infrastructure and systems
- Data sharing systems
- Ethical review board procedures
- Research Knowledge Management, including dissemination
- Authorship principles and practices, including with student investigators
- Participant reciprocity and community engagement in research principles

To ensure the principles of decolonization, equity, diversion and inclusion are integrated the School’s research programs and activities.