-College of Medicine Will Abolish Current Grading System

 On November 3, the College of Medicine announced a new innovative curriculum designed to more effectively support student research development and the academic community as a whole.  Beginning this year, the college will implement its “Medical Curriculum Innovation Plan to Train Global Medical Team Leaders,” applying the changes to its first-year Medical School curriculum.  

 The new curriculum includes “absolute evaluation,” a first in Korean higher education, in which students are evaluated solely on a “Pass/Non-Pass” basis.  This is opposed to “relative evaluation,” in which students are graded on a curve according to a scale of ABCDF. This new system of absolute evaluation, which aims to increase students’ sense of accomplishment and confidence, thus moves away from ranking students according to their grades; instead, it is designed to evaluate medical students based on a variety of criteria such as their problem solving skills, creativity, and practical performance, as well as their ability to achieve goals set by the university, engage in self-directed learning, and cooperate with their mentors and peers.  A number of top medical schools in the United States already use absolute evaluation systems, as do Tokyo University and Osaka University in Japan. In order to promote medical research, the College of Medicine also plans to require that its undergraduate students prepare and submit research proposals; students who are deemed to have excellent research potential will receive funding as well as the opportunity to engage in six months of intensive research.  On the other hand, in its efforts to cultivate socially-responsible doctors and clinicians, the College of Medicine will be strengthening its holistic education program.  As such, students will be required to demonstrate competency in thirty-six different areas, which are based on four essential principles:  Excellent Physician, Excellent Scholar, Effective Communicator, and Trustworthy Professional.  Each semester, students will be evaluated on their progress, based upon a portfolio they submit.    The new curriculum also calls for the formation of “Learning Communities,” which will be composed of thirty students overseen by six advisors (5:1 student-advisor ratio).  The goal of the Learning Communities is to encourage cooperation, rather than competition, among students as they progress in their studies and begin to establish career paths.  The new curriculum reflects the College of Medicine’s conviction that collaboration and convergence are fundamental concepts for future doctors and medical researchers who will become global leaders. This new educational approach is the result of a three-year research project undertaken by the College of Medicine Curriculum Development Team.  During the project, its members consulted domestic and international medical education experts, and the curriculum is modelled on top programs from the U.S. and Japan.