Improving Discipline-Based Undergraduate Medical Curriculum

The past few decades have seen the increasing use of evidence in all aspects of healthcare. The concept of evidence-informed healthcare began in the 1990s as evidence-informed practice, and has since become widely accepted. It is also accepted that the training of medical graduates must be informed by evidence obtained from educational research. This book utilizes an evidence-informed approach to improve discipline-based undergraduate medical curricula.

Discipline-based undergraduate medical curricula represent a widely adopted choice for undergraduate medical education around the world. However, there have been criticisms leveled against the discipline-based approach. One of the shortcomings cited is that students are insufficiently equipped to meet the challenges of today’s healthcare.

As a result, various strategies have been proposed. One option, currently in vogue, is the outcome-based approach, wherein the exit behaviors of medical graduates are explicitly examined and used to guide the educational process. The shortcomings present in discipline-based undergraduate medical curricula can be overcome by the strengths of these strategies. This book recommends improving discipline-based undergraduate medical curricula by combining several strategies, including the adoption of an outcome-based approach and the use of evidence-informed implementable solutions.

The book is relevant for all faculty, administrators and policymakers involved in undergraduate medical education, and can also be used as a resource for faculty development.

“This book presents strategies to improve discipline-based undergraduate medical curriculum including outcome-based education. It opens with a section on the strengths and limitations of discipline-based education, and then discusses in some depth the history of research in medical education and what constitutes evidence-informed approaches.” (Patricia A. Thomas, Doody's Book Reviews, January, 25, 2019)

Dr Kadambari Dharanipragada works as a professor in the department of surgery at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, India. She also heads the department of medical education at JIPMER. She completed the FAIMER-Keele Master of Health Professions Education (MHPE) and was awarded the MHPE.


She has participated and conducted onsite and offsite training programs for teachers in the health profession including faculty, nurse educators and senior residents and the revised basic course workshops of the medical council of India as part of the activities of the regional centre of the Medical Council of India (MCI). She is currently the coordinator for curriculum reform of the MBBS course at JIPMER. She has also contributed to developing programs of health education for the public on various aspects of health and disease, taken part in conducting and organising health awareness camps particularly in the field of oncology. Her area of interest in surgery is breast surgery and particularly in oncoplastic breast surgery for breast cancer. She has visited the department of breast and endocrine surgery at Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden and has pioneered the practice of oncoplasty in JIPMER. She was the organising secretary of the 1st JIPMER breast oncoplasty conference. Dr. Dharanipragada has many publications to her credit.


Dr. Santosh Kumar presently works as technical consultant in the department of medical education at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER). Prior to this, Dr. Kumar has been head of the department of medical education and department of urology, project officer and core group faculty member of National Teacher Training Centre (NTTC), JIPMER. He has organized, coordinated and functioned as a resource person in educational activities of the department including national courses on educational science for teachers of health professionals and integrated orientation programs for interns and postgraduate students. Dr. Kumar has also been a resource person for on-site and off-site workshops on training of trainers, educational technology for residents, curriculum development, research methodology and biomedical communication, Medical Council of India’s basic course workshops in medical education technologies and one-day sensitization programs on attitude and communication module. 


Dr. Kumar has been the editor of Indian Journal of Urology. He has been awarded state of the art lecture on “Vascular obstructions of the urinary tract” at the 24th Annual Conference of Urological Society of India at Calicut. Dr. Kumar has done WHO fellowship in the Institute of Urology, London, UK. He has been holding positions in few committees at JIPMER. Dr. Kumar has published many books, chapters and articles in medical education and in urology.



Dr Z. Zayapragassarazan presently works as additional professor in the department of medical education at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, India. He was awarded PhD in educational technology. He has many papers to his credit and contributed to books on education with reference to Indian context. He has presented papers in international and national conferences. He has introduced emerging areas of medical education such as active learning methods, e-learning, interactive teaching, teaching of attitude and communication skills through faculty development programs organized in JIPMER. He is one among the few advanced trauma life support (ATLS) educators in India for ATLS instructor course developed by American College of Surgeons. He is a life member of many societies and associations. He has served as resource person for University Grants Commission (UGC) and for many universities. He has received many fellowships and awards. He has associated himself in various committees and as research guide for M.Ed, and M.Phil programs.



Dr Subhash Chandra Parija is the director of the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER), Pondicherry, India, and has nearly three and half decades of teaching and research experience in medical microbiology. Prof. Parija is a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) expert, and has been consulted to draft guidelines on food safety for parasites. Prof. Parija was on the board of MD examination at Colombo University, Sri Lanka, Sultan Quaboos University, Oman, University of Malaya, Malaysia. He was conferred a D.Sc. for his contributions in the field of medical parasitology by Madras University. The author of ten books including the “Text Book of Medical Parasitology,” he has published more than 300 papers in both national and international journals of repute.



Prof. Parija has been honored with more than 25 awards including the Medical Council of India’s Dr. BC Roy National Award and the National Academy of Medical Sciences’ Dr. PN Chuttani Oration Award. Prof. Parija founded the Indian Academy of Tropical Parasitology (IATP), the only professional organization of medical parasitologists in India, and initiated the journal Tropical Parasitology.