Background: Colleges may introduce changes to their curricula for a number of reasons including: program accreditation, changes in higher education recommendations, willingness to enforce active learning and changes in the need of the workplace. Such demand, particularly the latter, may necessitate taking a new look at the way we review nursing curricula.

Intended outcomes: Participants will be presented a new model for curriculum review with particular emphasis on what the needs of the workplace are and the profession and how these needs should comprise the framework of the curriculum.

Discussion: The model for curriculum review aims at reversing the traditional components of curriculum namely: knowledge, skills and behaviour to focus on three key values (behaviours) namely patient-centred approaches, professionalism and becoming a role model, and accommodating the needs of the community. The model can be represented by a 3D pyramid with these values forming the base of the pyramid. Professionalism is in the centre of the base and goes across the pyramid up to the top. Other components related to the three edges connecting the base with the top are: patient safety, engaging patient and family members in management and patient education, and enhancing skills in team work and communication skills. Throughout the model, knowledge should be learnt innovatively that aims mainly at clinical applications and translation of knowledge in day-to-day practices. In-depth discussion on how to apply this model in the learning environment will be discussed.

Conclusion: The current changes in community and demands of the patientʼs needs necessitate a new look at the nursing curriculum.

Biography:
Dr. Samy Azer is an Australian physician and medical academic and educator. He was honoured to contribute to medical education in several countries. He graduated with a Bachelor in Medicine and Surgery and completed his training in gastroenterology and hepatology in the 80s. He obtained PhD from the University of Sydney in hepatology and a Master in Education from the University of New South Wales. He is a Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology and obtained a Master of Public Health from the University of New South Wales. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine. He was a Senior Lecturer in Medical Education at the University of Sydney from 1997 to 1998 at that time the university was introducing a new PBL program. Then he was invited to join the University of Melbourne from 1999 to 2006 to support the team in medical education unit introducing the new PBL program and changing the curriculum. He is a Visiting Professor of Medical Education at the University of Toyama, Japan and has helped the Faculty of Medicine in establishing its Medical Education Unit. He was Professor of Medical Education and Chair of Medical Education Research and Development Unit, Faculty of Medicine, UniversitiTeknologi MARA, Malaysia from 2007 to 2009. During that time he was a key element in helping the Faculty to be ready and prepared for accreditation of its program. The program was credited for 5 years and the university was the first to be credited in Malaysia. Professor Azer was a consultant to the Victorian Postgraduate Medical Foundation (VMPF), Australia. He is Professor of Medical Education and the Chair of Curriculum and Research Unit at King Saud University College of Medicine and has played a significant role in introducing the new curriculum and preparing the College for accreditation. The program was accredited for 7 years in 2011. Professor Azer has been invited as a keynote speaker to conferences in Australia, South East Asia, Sweden, Turkey, the Middle East countries and the United States. He has over 100 original articles published in international journals most of them are on medical education. He authored four textbooks on Medical Education. He is Editor at PLOS ONE, United States, Editor at MEDICINE, the United States, and on the Editorial Board of BMC Medical Education, the United Kingdom, and a Topic Editor of Frontiers in Medicine, a partner of Nature Group, Switzerland.