The Importance of an Integrated Curriculum

Work in medical education technology, for a DO school, is very specific. So finding an experienced professional in the field can be rare. Kapil Bajaj, chief technology officer at Baptist Health Sciences University, fits that need perfectly, with 22 years of experience in IT and higher education.

The new Baptist University College of Osteopathic Medicine (BUCOM) building is being built with intentionality, including technology access that DO students will need, making learning more conducive to students. For example, the anatomy lab will have cameras so that students can observe what the faculty is doing and share best practices with each other.

“We are also designing labs specifically around team-based learning to foster teamwork among the medical students,” said Kapil. “The lab is set up in pods which can operate on their own with six students. If one team is completing a concept that should be shared, that pod can present to the main screen for everyone to see.”

DO school involves a lot of practicums unlike other advanced degrees where students go to class for a lecture and complete homework and quizzes. In medicine, students work on cases and practice. They have lectures but then they must apply what they learn in a health care setting, reviewing cases, making a diagnosis and developing a treatment plan. DO students then share that reasoning with their classmates, so they can learn from others work.

“Team-based learning is so important in a DO setting because the curriculum is so tough,” said Kapil. “In medical education, individual and group work starts from the beginning of school. Students need to know how to apply their knowledge.”

The facilities are being designed to allow students to go to a study room and rewatch a lecture.

“The secret sauce is researching the best device for students to have; they need access to eBooks, PowerPoints and lectures, online access to name a few,” said Kapil. “Finding the best way to deliver the curriculum to the students is the end goal.”

DO students today, and for the last decade, are learning about electronic medical records from day one and will likely never see paper charts. Medical students 20 years ago were still working on paper charts and had to learn Electronic Medical Records use as practicing doctors. BUCOM has that integrated in the curriculum.

While most of the technology is rolling out at BUCOM, it will benefit and be accessible to all Baptist University students in the future.

Kapil joined Baptist University in March 2023, coming to us from New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine in Jonesboro, Ark. where he worked for seven years. Prior to that, he was at Ohio University in IT for 16 years, working with Dr. Peter Bell, BUCOM’s dean of medical education and vice provost.