Practical Guide to Undergraduate Medical Curriculum Alignment and Mapping

OBJECTIVE: Curriculum development and reviews are of paramount importance for academic programs curriculum management. Medical curricula need proper construction and frequent updates to suits learning outcomes considering their integrative nature and rapid scientific advancement. Curriculum alignment and mapping are fundamental for proper integration and planning of medical curriculum. This process is beneficial in detecting gaps and redundancies, and ensuring proper instruction, integration, and transparency. However, there is a paucity in the literature of a practical guidance to such process. Hence, this manuscript provides a practical guidance that was adopted in our institutes. METHODS: A detailed description of twelve step-by-step guidance to curriculum alignment and mapping was provided. The process needed for each step and the flow chart of work was detailed. RESULTS: This guide was developed and implemented successfully. Among many benefits encountered, many gaps in the contents, learning outcomes and assessment methods were detected and rectified. Additionally, better curriculum integration has been achieved. The current mapping will make any future curriculum reviews easier. CONCLUSION: This guide could be utilized by newly developed and existing programs for curriculum alignment and mapping. It fills a gap in academic literature through stepwise workflow which has been tested and implemented.