The administration of the Wayne State University School of Medicine has released a white paper titled "Curriculum Reform at the Wayne State University School of Medicine" related to efforts already underway to update the education of medical students.

The document, which can be read in its entirety here, is related to the school's reaccreditation process through the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.

The purpose of the paper, said Richard Baker, M.D., vice dean of Medical Education for the School of Medicine, is to transparently provide a base of information of all stakeholders in the education of medical students.

"We want everyone involved in updating the curriculum to have all of the information, and to work from the same starting point," Dr. Baker said. "These are the facts as we know them, and from there we are moving forward to design the medical education curriculum of the future."

The paper provides a review of the immediate need for curriculum reform and the current direction to achieve that mission, said Patrick Bridge, Ph.D., associate dean for Undergraduate Medical Education, who drafted the document.

"The direction of medical education and how students learn has rapidly changed, and the Wayne State University School of Medicine's Undergraduate Medical Education Program has not kept pace with these changes," said Dr. Bridge, also an associate professor of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences. "We are addressing those issues in an expedited manner. Today we are in the position to make a difference and provide the highest quality education to our students for the benefit of their future patients."