Educational Activity Forms

The UBC Faculty of Medicine uses an adapted list of the AAMC Curriculum Inventory Standards as the list of terms for mapping the Instructional Methods, Assessment Methods and Resource Types for the medical undergraduate curriculum; this list includes the descriptions and definitions.

– Updated May 10, 2016

Understand WHY writing an abstract is crucial in documenting and understanding the curricular content of the session. You will also find a number of sample abstracts that will help you write yours.  

Why write an abstract?

The abstract is important to understand the teaching methodology and how the learning objectives will be met.  An abstract is a brief summary describing the purpose of the session. We are hoping that the few sentences in an ‘abstract’ will give course planners information about more than just learning objectives (ex: flipped classroom, discussion vs lecture) and just a tiny bit more depth.  If we have 5 sessions on Type 2 Diabetes that all list objectives such as “diagnosis and treatment”, a short abstract will help course planners work toward how each session should be sequenced and how they fit together.  In addition, an abstract will help new teachers prepare for their sessions. 

When preparing to read a Journal Article, you simply cannot understand what the article is about by looking at the Keywords or conclusion – you read the abstract. 

Below you will find a few examples of what we are looking for in the Abstract section of the Educational Activity Form: 

1. MEDD 411 – Fetal Development – Week Abstract
2. This week builds on the gross and microscopic anatomy concepts introduced in the first two weeks of MEDD 411 by presenting the general organization of the body as well as fetal development during a normal pregnancy. The critical phases of fetal development will be approached by considering aspects of genetics, formation of the zygote, development of the embryo and fetus, and a discussion of approaches to monitoring normal pregnancy. The case of this week is based on a normal pregnancy and introduces students to being alert for “red flags” that will start to shape the foundation of clinical decision making throughout their clinical skills and rotations.
3. MEDD 411 – Breast Mass – CBL
4. This case presents a 63-year-old woman who discovers a breast lump. There is some family history of breast cancer. She has had regular screening mammograms and has never had any abnormalities detected. She took hormone replacement therapy for 1 year from age 50-51 for hot flushes but was advised to stop by her family doctor due to potential increase in risk of breast cancer. This case explores the importance of screening, treatment guidelines, patient counselling and education in medicine.
5. MEDD 411 – Pathology of Common Lower Gastrointestinal (GI) Tract Conditions
   • This session will review the major pathologic diseases of the lower gastrointestinal tract including colitis, colon polyps, colon carcinoma, appendicitis and neoplasms of the appendix. It will focus on clinical pathologic correlations to enable the development of a differential diagnosis for patients that present with symptoms related to the lower gastrointestinal tract. The importance of screening for the early detection of colorectal carcinomas will be reviewed.
6. MEDD 411 – Workup for Infertility
7. This session will use case presentations to review the common causes of infertility and provide the framework to develop a rational approach to the infertile individual or couple. This session will build upon the concepts of the physiology and pathophysiology of the HPO Axis, the other factors affecting fertility, and essential components of achieving conception. It will focus on the importance of obtaining a through history and physical exam and a rational approach to investigations.

Learning Objective Definition

A statement in specific and measurable terms that describes what the learner will know or be able to do as a result of engaging in a learning activity.

Resources for Objective Writing

– Presentation detailing what comprises a well-written learning objective

– Brief 2-page guide to writing good learning objectives

 – Behavioural Verbs for Writing Objectives – Washington Hospital Center

Objectives and your Session

Each Educational Activity Form should list all learning objectives for the session with up to two sub-sets per objective.  An example of a single objective with an acceptable two sub-set list is as follows:

1. Identify the location and components of reticular formation relevant to alertness/consciousness:
      a. Rostral tegmentum of brainstem (pons, midbrain)
      b. Lateral zone inputs and outputs
      c. Neurotransmitter systems:
            i. Norepinephrine
            ii. Dopamine
            iii. Serotonin
            iv. Histamine
            v. Acetylcholine
2. Describe the major projections and basic contributions to alertness of the neurotransmitter systems (identified above)  

Example

“Rostral tegmentum of brainstem (pons, midbrain)” – sub-set one

“Norepinephrine” – sub-set two

UBC has adopted the use of the MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) taxonomy for mapping the curriculum. Choosing a maximum of 10 appropriate and effective keywords for your session allows the generation of accurate and meaningful reports that identify what, where and when topics are being covered. The reports generated are used by the curriculum leadership and help to satisfy the accreditation of the program.

​​MeSH – Medical Subject Headings  

MeSH is the National Library of Medicine’s controlled vocabulary thesaurus. It consists of sets of terms naming descriptors in a hierarchical structure that permits searching at various levels of specificity. 

MeSH descriptors are arranged in both an alphabetic and a hierarchical structure. At the most general level of the hierarchical structure are very broad headings such as “Anatomy” or “Mental Disorders.” More specific headings are found at more narrow levels of the twelve-level hierarchy, such as “Ankle” and “Conduct Disorder.” There are around 28,000 descriptors in the 2015 MeSH keyword list. There are also over 218,000 entry terms that assist in finding the most appropriate MeSH Heading, for example, “Vitamin C” is an entry term to “Ascorbic Acid.” In addition to these headings, there are more than 219,000 headings called Supplementary Concept Records (formerly Supplementary Chemical Records) within a separate thesaurus.

– Excerpt from NIH website

• MeSH Online Browser
• Information on how to use the MeSH Online Browser

The UBC FoM systems, themes and areas of content expertise taxonomies are used to group and organize longitudinal topics in our curriculum and identify common levels of focus and integration within the program.

– Last updated September 19, 2024

The UBC Formulary is a compiled list of drugs that students are expected to have seen through all 4 years of the curriculum. This list has been approved by the UBC Faculty of Medicine Undergrad Curriculum Committee.

 – by Body System / Drug Class / Prototype – Updated May 18, 2018 – Version 4.0

MDUP Mission and Goals, UBC Year Level Milestones and Exit Competencies, CanMEDS and AAMC Medical Education Competency Reference Set