AJK Medical College is the 1st public sector medical college in Pakistan to adopt an outcome-based, indigenous, systems-based integrated curriculum; being delivered in modular format. The hall-mark of this curriculum is the student-centeredness, integrated learning, critical thinking and problem solving approaches. Our curriculum is dynamic, to be continuously refined in the light of feedback from faculty, students and regulatory bodies. Our Curriculum philosophy revolves around principles of adult learning which encompasses self directedness, contextual learning and building knowledge on prior experiences. The stress is on small group learning, working in teams and self-directed learning. Students are encouraged to reflect on their experiences to promote self-assessment and life-long learning. During modular delivery clinical cases are used as triggers to make learning contextual and relevant to the needs of the future physicians. In first two years learning outcomes are designed around normal structure and functions of human body with relevant clinical exposure. In subsequent years students re-visit the modules with increasing complexity and depth to enhance clinical relevance. During last two years, students would spend time in clinical clerkships. As clerks they are expected to take history, perform physical examination and follow daily progress of patients in both ambulatory and in patient setting. A special stress has been put on community based learning where students are exposed to patients in community with special emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention. Community based program will strengthen further in the days to come. The curriculum is being assessed in integrated fashion. Integrated way of learning cannot succeed unless assessment strategies are congruent with learning strategies. We at Azad Jammu Kashmir Medical College(AJKMC)have moved away from subject-based assessments. Students are constantly assessed during their day to day activities. At the end of each module a comprehensive assessment comprising of written and performance assessment is planned. These modular assessments contribute 30% towards annual university examination.University examinations are modeled on modular assessments and comprise of Block examinations with 2-3 modules in each block. Department of medical education oversees curricular design, delivery, assessment and evaluation. It constantly strives to improve quality of curricular delivery and assessments. Several faculty members are involved in medical education research and have published and presented several research papers in National and International conferences.
