Blended courses supported by digital technology (bLearning) and competency-based medical education can be found in different university curricular reform initiatives around the world. Today, it is essential to implement new technologies and teaching methods that are flexible and encourage students to acquire the necessary professional skills. This article describes how using the bLearning format transformed the Social Medicine course for second-year medical students at Universidad de los Andes (Colombia), particularly their ability to achieve target competencies. A qualitative case study was carried out to explore the curriculum structure, training and skills, educational model and learning environments used during the course. We discuss the methods used, the results achieved, and the challenges encountered during the implementation process. Findings show that bLearning both facilitated the transformation of the course design and promoted flexibility and autonomy in students' learning process. Additionally, the new format facilitated the development of various competencies including: cognitive, technical and procedural, integrative and communicative, reflection, and professional ones.

Communication skills are important for physicians, as they are continuously in contact with human beings—patients, families, or members of healthcare teams—in various circumstances. At Universidad de los Andes' School of Medicine, these skills are a fundamental part of the curriculum and the subject of two undergraduate concentration courses. The purpose of this chapter is to present the experience of transitioning one of these courses, Communication Skills II, from face-to-face to a virtual learning environment as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It describes the rationale behind teaching communication skills, illustrates how the course was developed and taught face-to-face, presents the challenges posed the COVID-19 pandemic, explains the transition of the course to a virtual learning environment, and concludes by offering an overview of the evaluations and perceptions of the course, as taught in the virtual environment, by those involved in it.