Redesign process and expansion of an existing undergraduate Medical Science program incorporating industry perspectives

The identity of a medical scientist can take on various forms due to the wide-ranging nature of the field, encompassing diverse disciplinary areas and their practical applications. For instance, a medical scientist could be involved in conducting clinical trials to test new treatments, analysing clinical data to identify trends, undertaking research to make new discoveries, or serving as a medical laboratory scientist performing crucial diagnostic work. The versatile nature of the role underscores the disciplinary diversity and vast employment opportunities across the medical science sector.

At Flinders University, the undergraduate Medical Science course was developed in the late 90’s. Traditionally designed to offer foundational studies in the basic sciences, followed by specialised biomedical sciences, the program of study consisted of vast topic choices for students to design a bespoke program that represented the ‘medical scientist’ they wanted to be. However, over time a prevailing perception developed among students that the course served as an optimal pathway to postgraduate medicine studies. This inadvertently limited the broader recognition and utilisation of college-based research strengths and the diverse skill sets and potentials fostered within the program; a possible contributor to the overall skill shortage across the healthcare sector.

In 2020, the Medical Science leadership and teaching teams began a generational redesign of the program. Key aims were to review course Learning Outcomes (LO’s) and program of study; reveal the programs’ disciplinary strengths and align with contemporary community and industry needs. Our industry partners provided crucial insights into including the declining workforce in regional diagnostic pathology laboratories and an overall aging workforce. Evaluation involving a broad range of stakeholders also identified that expansion of the program to include a specialisation – Laboratory Medicine was needed. Flinders University are taking a Fearless approach in upskilling the next generation of medical laboratory scientists with a focus on Professional Placement in the South Australian regions.

Acknowledging that disruption can challenge existing norms, an intentional crafting of the curriculum was initiated using 'backward design’, an approach commonly used in course redesign. [1,2] The process began with bringing the course teaching team together to design new course LO’s. We then consulted with external and internal stakeholders, including students and graduates, to reveal valuable perspectives. The insights gained from these discussions played a crucial role in shaping the redesigned course and ensuring it met industry demands.

Our key learnings in successful and effective course redesign are to ensure relevant teams are brought on the change journey together with the team leading the changes; facilitate open communication and maintain transparency throughout decision making; clarity on goals with intentional design of LO’s; and broad strategic collaboration to foster a wide-ranging perspectives.