Electronic curriculum mapping: supporting competency-based dental education.

JCDA • www.cda-adc.ca/jcda • December 2008/January 2009, Vol. 74, No. 10 • The publication in 1995 of the Institute of Medicine’s report on the state of dental education, Dental Education at the Crossroads, spelled out what dental leaders already knew — that wholesale curriculum changes were needed to modernize the teaching of dentistry. One suggested solution for curriculum renewal was the adoption of competency-based education. The goal of competency-based education was to impart to students the necessary knowledge, skills, ethics and attitudes required to establish a general practice upon graduation. In the early 1990s, a set of competencies were developed in Canada for use by the Association of Canadian Faculties of Dentistry (ACFD) for curriculum development and delivery, by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada for program accreditation, and by the National Dental Examining Board of Canada for dental licensure. Initially there were 46 competencies, which were validated in 2002 and revised in 2006 to 47 competencies.1 In addition to developing a curriculum that focuses on the core knowledge, skills, ethics and attitudes necessary to acquire competency, an institution must also demonstrate that students are competent upon graduation. Outcome evaluation, the demonstration that competency has been achieved, is an integral component of our institutional evaluation process at the University of Manitoba’s faculty of dentistry. In this article we discuss how curriculum mapping enables us to demonstrate how we help students achieve competency and shows that competency-based education is a valid educational approach.