A critical evaluation of the Intercollegiate Surgical Curriculum and comparison with its predecessor the "Calman" curriculum.

BACKGROUND: The increasing need for doctors to be accountable and an emphasis on competency have led to the evolution of medical curricula. The Intercollegiate Surgical Curriculum Project succeeded the Calman curriculum for surgical training in 2007 in the UK. It sought to provide an integrated curriculum based upon a website platform. The aim of this review is to examine the changes to the curriculum and effect on surgical training. METHODS: A comparison was made of the Calman Curriculum and the ISCP and how they met training needs. RESULTS: The new curriculum is multifaceted, providing a more prescriptive detail on what trainees should achieve and when, as well as allowing portfolio, learning agreements, and work-based assessments to be maintained on an easily accessed website. The increasing emphasis on work-based assessments has been one of the major components, with an aim of providing evidence of competence. However, there is dissatisfaction amongst trainees with this component which lacks convincing validity. CONCLUSION: This new curriculum significantly differs from its predecessor which was essentially just a syllabus. It needs to continuously evolve to meet the needs of trainees whose training environment is ever changing.