title: Toward a definition of competency-based education in medicine: a systematic review of published definitions.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Competency-based education (CBE) has emerged in the health professions to address criticisms of contemporary approaches to training. However, the literature has no clear, widely accepted definition of CBE that furthers innovation, debate, and scholarship in this area.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To systematically review CBE-related literature in order to identify key terms and constructs to inform the development of a useful working definition of CBE for medical education.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched electronic databases and supplemented searches by using authors' files, checking reference lists, contacting relevant organizations and conducting Internet searches. Screening was carried out by duplicate assessment, and disagreements were resolved by consensus. We included any English- or French-language sources that defined competency-based education. Data were analyzed qualitatively and summarized descriptively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 15,956 records for initial relevancy screening by title and abstract. The full text of 1,826 records was then retrieved and assessed further for relevance. A total of 173 records were analyzed. We identified 4 major themes (organizing framework, rationale, contrast with time, and implementing CBE) and 6 sub-themes (outcomes defined, curriculum of competencies, demonstrable, assessment, learner-centred and societal needs). From these themes, a new definition of CBE was synthesized.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first comprehensive systematic review of the medical education literature related to CBE definitions. The themes and definition identified should be considered by educators to advance the field.
authors.affiliation: Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Canada. jfrank@royalcollege.ca
authors.forename: Jason R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Frank
authors.forename: Rani
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mungroo
authors.forename: Yasmine
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.forename: Mimi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Rossi
authors.forename: Tanya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Horsley
mesh_terms: D003162:Competency-Based Education; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D006801:Humans; D009626:Terminology as Topic