The UC Davis School of Medicine launched its new, competency-based medical education curriculum I-EXPLORE (Integrated EXplorative Patient and Learner ORiented Education) in 2021. Oversight of I-EXPLORE is the responsibility of the Committee on Educational Policy (CEP) and three CEP subcommittees, the Curriculum Enrichment Subcommittee (CES), the Curriculum Evaluations and Outcomes Subcommittee (CEOS), and the Curriculum Steering Subcommittee (CSS). CES’ focus is on elective experiences, CEOS utilizes data from course outcomes and evaluations to provide direction and support on assessments, data collection, and evaluations, and CSS is responsible for the oversight of the required curriculum, which includes input from the Pre-Clerkship Workgroup, the Clerkship Directors Workgroup, and the Clinical Skills Workgroup. A curriculum committee flowchart is available here, and the School of Medicine’s Bylaws and Regulations detail the membership, duties, and responsibilities of each committee.

CEP and each of the subcommittees, as appropriate, participate in frequent course and phase reviews. CEP then develops action item reports for course/clerkship leadership to ensure educational quality improvements are ongoing. I-EXPLORE’s inaugural cohorts were the third-year cohort that started the Clerkship Phase in May 2021, and the first-year students who began the Pre-Clerkship Phase in August 2021. The students graduating in May 2025 will be the first cohort to complete all three phases of I-EXPLORE. 

The I-EXPLORE curriculum master plan was organized by Curriculum Design Team in 2019, approved by the School’s faculty in 2020, and launched by the CEP workgroup, the Curriculum Implementation Team, over the course of the academic years 2020-2022.