Outcomes of competency-based medical education: A taxonomy for shared language

Abstract

As the global transformation of postgraduate medical training continues, there are persistent calls for program evaluation efforts to understand the impact and outcomes of competency-based medical education (CBME) implementation. The measurement of a complex educational intervention such as CBME is challenging because of the multifaceted nature of activities and outcomes. What is needed, therefore, is an organizational taxonomy to both conceptualize and categorize multiple outcomes. In this manuscript we propose a taxonomy that builds on preceding works to organize CBME outcomes across three domains: focus (educational, clinical), level (micro, meso, macro), and timeline (training, transition to practice, practice). We also provide examples of how to conceptualize outcomes of educational interventions across medical specialties using this taxonomy. By proposing a shared language for outcomes of CBME, we hope that this taxonomy will help organize ongoing evaluation work and catalyze those seeking to engage in the evaluation effort to help understand the impact and outcomes of CBME.

Keywords:

• Curriculum
• evaluation
• outcome-based
• learning outcomes
• general
• patient management
• management
• medical education research

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article. Resources and secretariat support for this project were provided by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrew K. Hall

Andrew K. Hall, MD, FRCPC, MMEd, is an associate professor and CBME lead in the Department of Emergency Medicine, Queen’s University, and a clinician educator at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Daniel J. Schumacher

Daniel J. Schumacher, MD, PhD, is the education research unit director, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

Brent Thoma

Brent Thoma, MD, MA, MSc, is an associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, and a clinician educator at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Holly Caretta-Weyer

Holly Caretta-Weyer, MD, is a clinical assistant professor and assistant residency program director in the Department of Emergency Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine.

Benjamin Kinnear

Benjamin Kinnear, MD, MEd, is an associate professor and assistant residency program director, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

Larry Gruppen

Larry Gruppen, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Learning Health Sciences and director of the Master of Health Professions Education Program, University of Michigan.

Lara J. Cooke

Lara J. Cooke, MD, MSc (MedEd), FRCPC, is an associate professor in the Division of Neurology, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, and a clinician educator at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Jason R. Frank

Jason R. Frank, MD, MA(Ed), FRCPC, is the director of specialty education, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and an associate professor and director of educational research and development, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Ottawa.

Elaine Van Melle

Elaine Van Melle, PhD, is a senior education scientist at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and an adjunct faculty in the Department of Family Medicine, Queen’s University.