Mapping the Pathology Competencies for Medical Education (PCME) to the Sidney Kimmel Medical College’s JeffMD GI Curriculum

Authors

• Emma Sanders, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
• Alexander Macnow, MD, MHPE, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow

Document Type

Abstract

Publication Date

2-11-2026

Academic Year

2025-2026

Comments

Presented at the 2026 Scholarly Inquiry (SI) Research Project Symposium.

Abstract

Introduction/Purpose: Sidney Kimmel Medical College’s competency-based curriculum, JeffMD, is structured around SMART objectives. However, evaluation of the alignment of these objectives against the PCME, a collection of graduation competencies published by the Association for Academic Pathology, has not yet been performed. This study investigated how comprehensively the GI/Liver block of the JeffMD curriculum addresses the corresponding PCME learning objectives, thereby piloting a pathology curriculum map and allowing evaluation of this curriculum.

Methods: In this study, a curriculum map was created of all learning events covered within the JeffMD GI/Liver block. Each learning event was cross-matched with competencies within the gastrointestinal tract, hepatobiliary, and pancreas PCME topic headers, as well as all PCME competencies. Data collection included the thread, PCME objective(s) addressed, and how comprehensively the objective(s) were covered (against predefined criteria).

Results/Conclusions: Our preliminary results demonstrated that out of the 73 related PCME objectives, 85% were covered within the GI block, of which 49% had high coverage, and 36% had low or moderate coverage. When analyzing how these competencies are horizontally integrated, we determined that 62% of PCME are covered in learning events tagged as the pathology thread. Additionally, 67% of PCME were addressed in at least two learning events. These results show that while the JeffMD curriculum covers significant amounts of essential pathology knowledge, it still contains gaps and has potential redundancies that should be taken into consideration when re-evaluating the curriculum’s effectiveness. This study suggests the utility of additional mapping of other blocks within the JeffMD curriculum.

Recommended Citation

Sanders, Emma and Macnow, MD, MHPE, Alexander, "Mapping the Pathology Competencies for Medical Education (PCME) to the Sidney Kimmel Medical College’s JeffMD GI Curriculum" (2026). Phase 1. Paper 1.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/si_me_2028_phase1/1

Language

English