What Should We Teach? A Consensus Method to Determine Curriculum Content

The content of an undergraduate curriculum is usually decided upon by the appropriate University Department. Such a Department is staffed exclusively by specialists in the field. The technique described in this paper is one which uses the perception of a wide variety of doctors, including specialists in the field, other specialists and general practitioners, to determine what should be taught to undergraduate students. The outcome of this study reveals that there is substantial agreement on what basic materials should be taught in an undergraduate curriculum in Ophthalmology. There is a substantial agreement throughout the profession on the basic required competencies in Ophthalmology, but it is clear that general practitioners are much more demanding in their requirements from the undergraduate curriculum than are specialists. Ophthalmologists are the least demanding of the undergraduate. The consensus technique described in this paper is a practical and formative method of obtaining valuable data for use in curriculum construction.