Department of Medical Education – Services

Staff Development Programmes

The Department of Medical Education regularly conducts staff development programmes for academic staff. These programmes include monthly staff development workshops and the facilitation of guest lectures and workshops by renowned medical educationists on an international scale.

The department hosts frequent workshops focused on Problem-Based Learning (PBL), Small Group Discussion (SGD) facilitation, and case development. These workshops serve as a platform for introducing innovative teaching, learning, and assessment methods, such as Best Response Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) and Task-based Learning.

In collaboration with the Medical Education Study Group, the department organizes lunchtime colloquia for faculty staff. Additionally, the department has had the privilege of hosting several international experts in the field of Medical Education, who have conducted workshops on Educational Research, Curriculum Development, and Review by invitation.

Furthermore, the Department extends its expertise by providing consultancies for workshops related to teaching, learning, and assessment methods to other medical faculties in Sri Lanka, including Kelaniya, Jayawardenapura, Karapitiya, Jaffna, and Peradeniya. It also collaborates with the Post Graduate Institute of Medicine and professional bodies, such as Colleges, Associations, and health professions training institutes under the Ministry of Health.

The Department organized the following staff development programmes this year:

Staff Development Programmes

List of Workshops conducted by the Department of Medical Education

 

  1. Restructuring HSPS Assessment, 07/01/2025
  2. Getting the best out of item analysis of MCQ, SEQ, OSPE and OSCE – 15/02/2024
  3. Curriculum Alignment Workshop – 18/03/2024
  4. Making HSPS Assessment more valid, cost effective and practical : The way forward-25/03/2024
  5. Applications of AI in Medical Education – 25/07/2024
  6. Unlocking the full potential of the Learning Management System (LMS) – 19/09/2024
  7. How to do an effective lecture – 18/01/2023
  8. Workshop on “OSPE” – 20/02/2023
  9. Developing a Power Point presentation with advanced features – 13/03/2023
  10. Revisiting Item Analysis – 24/04/2023
  11. How to be an effective SGD/PBL Facilitator – 8/06/2023
  12. Training to Serve as Scrutiny Expert – 28/07/2023
  13. Standard Setting in Clinical Sciences Stream – 15/09/2023
  14. Changes in Basic Sciences Stream Assessments – 25/09/2023
  15. Curriculum Alignment Workshops of content in Basic, Applied and Clinical Sciences Streams –Cardiovascular System Module – 6/10/2023
  16. Developing a uniform style guide for constructing MCQs – 27/10/2023
  17. Curriculum Alignment Workshop – Neuro Sciences Module – 09/11/2023
  18. Curriculum Alignment Workshop – Respiratory System Module – 23/11/2023
  19. Curriculum Alignment Workshop – Musculoskeletal & Locomotor System Module – 30/11/2023
  20. Curriculum Blueprinting (Online) – 28/04/2022
  21. Workplace Based Assessment (Online) – 20/05/2022
  22. Mapping Lesson Outcomes (Basic Sciences Stream) – 01/09/2022
  23. New Normal in Medical Education -Workshop on SEQ writing (Online)-11/8/2021
  24. New Normal in Medical Education -Workshop on OSPE (Online) – 22/11/2021
  25. New Normal in Medical Education-Facilitating small group learning online, 16 August 2021
  26. Workshop to introduce the Revised MBBS Curriculum, 8 February 2021
  27. Curriculum Development for New Curriculum(I) – 17/01/2020
  28. Blueprinting of Assessments(I) -23/01/2020
  29. Follow up meeting on developing lesson learning outcomes for Applied & Clinical modules –31/01/2020
  30. Blueprinting of Assessments(II) – 20/02/2020
  31. Curriculum Development for new curriculum (II) -28/02/2020
  32. Question Writing for Written Examinations- 1 (Constructed Response Questions)- 12/03/2020
  33. Blueprinting of Assessments Revisited Examiner Training – 10/08/2020
  34. How to be an effective SGD/PBL Facilitator – 31/01/2019
  35. Principles of Curriculum Development – 14/03/2019
  36. How to be an effective SGD/PBL facilitator – 22/02/2018
  37. How to make lecturers interactive – 23/05/2018
  38. Publishing Research in Medical Education – 28/06/2018
  39. Workshop on Item Analysis – 06/12/2018

Curriculum Development

The Department actively contributes valuable and current knowledge about the curriculum to the Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, through its participation in the Curriculum Development and Evaluation Committee, which convenes monthly. Department staff members play pivotal roles in supporting the curriculum through their involvement in other units, including the Academic Standards Committee, the Curriculum Implementation Unit, and the stream and module committees.

Graduates' Feedback on the Curriculum of Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo

To enhance the quality of medical education and ensure ongoing improvements, the Department collaborated with the Quality Assurance Cell to gather feedback from recent graduates who completed their studies. This feedback serves as a crucial component of the evaluation process for the current medical curriculum at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo. The insights and perspectives of these graduates are instrumental in guiding quality assurance efforts and facilitating curriculum revisions aimed at elevating the standard of medical education.

Lecturers’ Feedback on the Curriculum of Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo

The Department obtain lecturers’ perceptions regarding the ongoing curriculum via electronically distributed questionnaires and during board meetings. The responses are qualitatively analyzed and several dominant themes are identified.  Subsequently, an analysis report is submitted to the Curriculum Development and Evaluation Committee (CD & EC) meetings with the graduates’ feedback. In-depth discussions at CD & EC meetings focus on the lecturers’ feedback, and with the suggestions from the committee, a final document highlighting concerns related to the current curriculum is developed.

Regional Centre of APACPH

 

 

 

 

 

The Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (APACPH) is an esteemed international non-profit organization that consists of many of the largest and most influential schools of Public Health in the Asia-Pacific region. The Department of Medical Education has established robust collaborations with APACPH and operates as a regional center within the consortium.

Notably, the Department actively participated in hosting the annual conference of APACPH in Sri Lanka in both 2012 and 2020.

WHO Collaborating Centre

The Department of Medical Education holds international recognition as a centre of excellence in medical education.