What is meant by integration

The Integrated Curriculum is defined as the dosage of the contents that are taught throughout the medical studies in multidisciplinary and in synchrony between the basic and clinical subjects.

Since 1980, it has been a trend among the main medical schools around the world, Schools . It is based on a series of teaching methodologies aimed at providing student with contextualised and coherent learning, so that they understand the meaning and relevance of the concepts they are studying:

1. During the first years, it is often difficult to connect the depth of basic science to clinical scenarios, as students are unfamiliar with the scope of the subjects they are studying. The Integrated Curriculum supports learning by linking basic science content to clinical problems, often through case studies.

2. Furthermore, learning is most effective when the structuring of knowledge matches the way it will be applied. Thus, the connection between different subjects can enhance learning in the long term and facilitate deeper understanding.

3. In this way, a better transfer of knowledge is possible as student progresses in their studies. Familiarisation with clinical cases can help students to constantly identify aspects of the different basic sciences, so that they tend to internalise and apply them as they progress in their studies.
    

Different models of integration

Horizontal integration is defined as the linking of several subjects within a specific period of time. What was previously taught in parallel is now taught in a coordinated way, thus avoiding repetition of content, redundancies or discrepancies.

This relationship is possible in subjects such as Anatomy and Physiology or Biochemistry and Immunology, so that, at the same time, students study them applied, for example, to the same organ such as the heart. In this way, a much more complete and coherent vision is generated, which facilitates learning.

Vertical integration, on the other hand, involves a curricular relationship in subjects that are distant in time. In this way, the traditional barrier between basic and clinical subjects is eliminated. Thus, a 'Z' shaped model of Study program is extended: the student begins with a greater load in basic subjects, although not in their totality, so that the proportion is inverted as the courses progress, to end up with a majority of clinical subjects.

The combination of both horizontal and vertical models is known as spiral integration and occurs over time and across subjects. It allows for an increasingly mature understanding, so that student deepens more complex knowledge of the subjects studied at the beginning. This reinforces subjects through a natural process that moves from the simple to the complex and breaks down the barriers and boundaries that have traditionally grown up between courses, subjects and teachers and Departments.
 

From traditional lecturing to active learning

Professor Eric Mazur, professor of physics at Harvard University, recounts his transformation from traditional expository teaching to active learning: traditional teaching fails to make students understand physics, they only learn to solve problems subject for approve the exam. Active learning and peer instruction, however, makes students understand physics better, and learn to apply and transfer it to new situations.