Implementation and Modification of an Anatomy-Based Integrated Curriculum Brenda J. Klement, 1 * Douglas F. Paulsen, 2 Lawrence E. Wineski 2 1 Department of Medical Education, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 2 Department of Pathology and Anatomy, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia Morehouse School of Medicine elected to restructure its first-year medical curriculum by transitioning from a discipline-based to an integrated program. The anatomy course, with regional dissection at its core, served as the backbone for this integration by weaving the content from prior traditional courses into the curriculum around the anat- omy topics. There were four primary goals for this restructuring process. Goal 1: devel- op new integrated courses. Course boundaries were established at locations where logical breaks in anatomy content occurred. Four new courses were created, each con- taining integrated subject content. Goal 2: establish a curriculum management team. The team consisted of course directors, subject specialists, and a curriculum director. This team worked together to efficiently manage the new curriculum. Goal 3: launch contemporary examination and question banking methods. An electronic system, in which images could be included, was implemented for examinations and quizzes, and for storing and refining questions. Goal 4: ensure equitable distribution of standardized examinations and course grading systems among all courses. Assessments included quizzes, in-course examinations, and National Board of Medical Examiners V R (NBME V R ) Subject Examinations. A standard plan assigned the contribution of each to the final course grade. Significant improvement was seen on subject examinations. Once the obstacles and challenges of integration were overcome, a robust and efficient education program was developed. The curriculum is expected to continue evolving and improv- ing, while retaining full regional dissection as a core element. Anat Sci Educ 00: 000–000. V C 2016 American Association of Anatomists. Key words: medical education; medical curriculum; curriculum management; course inte- gration; curriculum restructure; integrative assessments methods; test banks; gross anato- my education INTRODUCTION Over the past decade, medical education programs have undergone multiple transformations to accommodate explo- sive progress in biomedical knowledge and technology (Leung et al., 2006; Mahan and Clinchot, 2014). These transformations can serve as an opportunity for program improvement (Drake, 2014) but should include the establish- ment of clear curricular goals (Bolender et al., 2013). Medi- cal education reform has encompassed many different paradigms. Schools have elected to transition from yearlong parallel courses to shorter courses delivered in block-like seg- ments (Marinovic ´ et al., 2009) or to integrate a single learn- ing program into the other courses in an established curriculum (Dubois and Franson, 2009). Some schools have undergone changes that affect multiple years of their curricu- lum (Taylor, 2010), while others have revised their curricu- lum so that students receive earlier clinical experiences (Dezee et al., 2012). Regardless of the type of change made, curriculum integration should include coordination of the curriculum components and participation by faculty who understand the overall curriculum (Muller et al., 2008). There are many reasons for restructuring medical educa- tion programs and many ways to accomplish the task. One *Correspondence to: Dr. Brenda J. Klement; Department of Medical Education, Morehouse School of Medicine, 720 Westview Dr. SW., Atlanta, GA 30310, USA. E-mail: bklement@msm.edu Grant sponsor: NIH; contract grant number: P03-1B040107 Grant sponsor: NIH; contract grant number: G12-MD00762 Received 4 May 2016; Revised 18 November 2016; Accepted 19 November 2016. Published online 00 Month 2016 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/ase.1676 V C 2016 American Association of Anatomists Anatomical Sciences Education MONTH 2016 Anat Sci Educ 00:00–00 (2016) DESCRIPTIVE ARTICLE