Competency-based medical education: implications for undergraduate programs

Abstract

Changes in educational thinking and in medical program accreditation provide an opportunity to reconsider approaches to undergraduate medical education. Current developments in competency-based medical education (CBME), in particular, present both possibilities and challenges for undergraduate programs. CBME does not specify particular learning strategies or formats, but rather provides a clear description of intended outcomes. This approach has the potential to yield authentic curricula for medical practice and to provide a seamless linkage between all stages of lifelong learning. At the same time, the implementation of CBME in undergraduate education poses challenges for curriculum design, student assessment practices, teacher preparation, and systemic institutional change, all of which have implications for student learning. Some of the challenges of CBME are similar to those that can arise in the implementation of any integrated program, while others are specific to the adoption of outcome frameworks as an organizing principle for curriculum design. This article reviews a number of issues raised by CBME in the context of undergraduate programs and provides examples of best practices that might help to address these issues.

National Undergraduate Medical Core Curriculum in Turkey: Evaluation of Residents

“…Although developed as part of the curriculum, the skills receiving the lowest scores were either never practiced or insufficiently practiced by the students. In order to improve competency in certain skills, the curricula must indicate the levels of competency attained at different stages of training and must be time flexible (23,24). The NCC should be developed, based on the needs and realities of the population.…”

Toward a Glossary of Competency-Based Medical Education Terms

“…Those terms were used to frame our formal literature search. The period searched for each term depended on the presence of review articles containing compiled definitions from the preceding literature: competency and competency-based medical education 4,5 3,4 Use of Boolean phrases narrowed the search to the field of medical education. Four article inclusion criteria were selected to create a feasible review strategy given the explosion of literature in CBME: (1) published in a peer-reviewed, English-language journal; (2) retrievable without cost (eg, medical college library, interlibrary access); (3) set in the continuum of medical education (undergraduate, graduate, or continuing); and (4) included the definition of the term under consideration (whether original or citing another source).…”

“…Terms, such as competence and competency-based medical education are frequently used, but lack consistent definitions. 2,3 What is really meant when my attending tells me I am competent or even, dyscompetent or starts talking about Milestones? Scholars also recognize this problem-individual authors and collaborators have worked to review term usage and promote universal definitions.…”

Uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery lobectomy using a novel perfused ex vivo simulation model

“…However, the increase in legal constraints related to patient safety in addition to residents working hours restrictions, has decreased the acquisition of experience related to clinical cases (3,4). Medical simulation emerges as a complement to traditional teaching and as a powerful educational tool which allows homogeneous training in a controlled and safe environment (5,6). The Universidad Catolica de Chile Simulation Center has become an international reference in Latin America in the training of minimally invasive surgeons with hi fidelity and low-cost simulation models, shortening learning curves and decreasing complication rates in surgical procedures (7-10).…”