title: Identifying the policy implications of competency-based education.
abstract: At their 2009 consensus conference, the International CBME Collaborators proposed a number of central tenets of CBME in order to advance the field of medical education. Although the proposed conceptualization of CBME offers several advantages and opportunities, including a greater emphasis on outcomes, a mechanism for the promotion of learner-centred curricula, and the potential to move away from time-based training and credentialing in medicine, it is also associated with several significant barriers to adoption. This paper examines the concepts of CBME through a broad educational policy lens, identifying considerations for medical education leaders, health care institutions, and policy-makers at both the meso (program, institutional) and macro (health care system, inter-jurisdictional, and international) levels. Through this analysis, it is clear that CBME is associated with a number of complex challenges and questions, and cannot be considered in isolation from the complex systems in which it functions. Much more work is needed to engage stakeholders in dialogue, to debate the issues, and to identify possible solutions.
authors.affiliation: Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. STaber@rcpsc.edu
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Taber
authors.forename: Jason R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Frank
authors.forename: Kenneth A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Nicholas J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Glasgow
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Iobst
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Talbot
mesh_terms: D003162:Competency-Based Education; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D006801:Humans; D016134:Organizational Policy; D011050:Policy Making