Events > Web Seminars > 2017 Fall: Evolution and Revolution in Medical Education - Global Challenges and Solutions in Health Professions Education

The Rising Tide of Competency-based Medical Education: A Global View

Presented by Jason R Frank, MD, MA(Ed), FRCPC, FAOrthA(hons) on September 7, 2017 at 12:00 pm

What is wrong with health professions education? Does it really need a “fix”? Why are so many schools and professions turning to competency-based medical education (CBME)? This session will provide a state-of-the-art overview of the CBME movement and its implications for all medical and health professions educators.

CBME has its origins in teacher education and the outcomes accountability movement in contemporary societies. The WHO called for all health professions programs to use a CBME approach in 1978. Only in recent years has this approach to training gained real momentum, with major standards bodies and whole systems converting.

In this webinar, we will review the origins, rationale, and elements of CBME design. We will provide a tour of the current landscape of competency-based changes around the world using a framework from the International CBME Collaborators. Finally, we will dive deeper into the fundamental redesign of Canadian medical education to illustrate just how different a competency-based world can be.

Learning objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  • Define “CBME” and discuss its origins
  • Describe the van Melle framework of CBME Core Components
  • Describe some of the CBME innovations from around the world, and
  • Describe Canada’s Competence By Design CBME project, the biggest meded change in Canadian history
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Presenter Bios

Dr. Jason R. Frank is a clinician-educator focussing on all aspects of health professions training.

He is the Director, Specialty Education, Strategy and Standards in the Office of Specialty Education at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, as well as Vice-Chair, Education and the Director of Educational Research & Development in the Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Ottawa. An associate professor at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Medicine, he has been cross-appointed to the Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa and the Department of Graduate Studies, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

Born in rural northern Canada, Jason Frank obtained his MD from the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Medicine and an FRCPC in Emergency Medicine at the University of Toronto. His Masters of Education is from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

He is known for his work on all aspects of medical education, particularly the CanMEDS Project since 1994, and competency-based medical education (CBME). He is the founder and chair of the International CBME Collaborators consortium and co-chair of the Royal College’s flagship Competency By Design project.

A finalist for Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, he has been recognized for his contributions to medicine and teaching. He is the recipient of the 2013 Council Award Honouring Outstanding Physicians, from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, and was made an honorary Fellow of the Australian Orthopedic Association in 2015 for his contributions to surgical education.