Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Challenges and opportunities in the implementation of competency-based medical education – A cross-sectional survey among medical faculty in India

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Shivkumar Gopalakrishnan
. A. Precilla Catherine 1
. Sangeetha Kandasamy 2
. Harissh Ganesan

1 Department of Physiology, Government Stanley Medical College and Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

2 Department of Biochemistry, Government Sivagangai Medical College and Hospital, Sivagangai, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract
BACKGROUND: In India, competency‑based medical education (CBME) is gaining foothold to
transform the medical student into a doctor fulfilling community and societal needs. With that end
in view the teaching faculty are getting sensitized and trained by the National Faculty Development
Program (FDP). We aimed to assess the awareness about FDP among teaching faculty in medical
colleges and study the attitude and perceived barriers to implementation of CBME.
METHODOLOGY: A cross‑sectional, electronically distributed, questionnaire‑based study was
conducted among medical faculty in India. The questionnaire identified participants’ awareness,
attitude, and perceived barriers to CBME. Descriptive analysis was employed for continuous variables
and internal comparison employing Chi‑square test with α <0.05 for statistical significance.
RESULTS: Among 251 participants 90.2% faculties from private institutes had undergone FDP as
against 71% from Government sector (P = 0.008). We observed that 92.4% were aware, 80.2%
had undergone Curriculum Implementation Support Program and 95.2% did agree that CBME will
improve the medical education system. Major challenges perceived were high student to faculty
ratio (67.7%), ill developed infrastructure (41.4%) and difficulties in assessment (41.1%). The popular
solutions suggested were to increase faculty strength (73.7%), improve infrastructure (69.3%), extra
remuneration (35.9%) and increase administrative support (30.7%). There was significant difference
of opinions between teaching faculty of government and private sector (P = 0.017).
CONCLUSION: Most of the medical faculty are aware of the need and have acquired a positive
attitude towards enforcement of CBME. However, significant barriers do exist in the form of manpower
and resources which need to be addressed.

Keywords

Competency‑based Medical Education
Faculty Development Program
Graduate Medical Education Regulations
Indian Medical Graduate
Medical Education
1. Frank JR, Snell LS, Cate OT, Holmboe ES, Carraccio C, Swing SR,
et al. Competency‑based medical education: Theory to practice.
Med Teach 2010;32:638‑45.PMID: 20662574 https://doi.org/10.
3109/0142159X.2010.501190.
2. Bansal P, Supe A. Faculty development for competency based
medical education. NJIRM 2017;8:(5) 89‑95.
3. Al‑Temimi M, Kidon M, Johna S. Accreditation council for
graduate medical education core competencies at a community
teaching hospital: Is there a gap in awareness? Perm J
2016;20:16‑67.PMID: 27768565 PMCID: PMC5101093https://doi.
org/10.7812/tpp/16‑067.
4. General Medical Council. Tomorrow’s Doctors: Education
Outcomes and Standards for Undergraduate Medical Education.
Available from: http://www.gmc‑uk.org/Tomorrow_s_
Doctors_1214.pdf_48905759.pdf. [Last accessed on 2016 May 16].
5. Frank JR, Danoff D. The CanMEDS initiative: Implementing
an outcomes‑based framework of physician competencies.
Med Teach 2007;29:642‑7.PMID: 18236250 doi.
org/10.1080/01421590701746983.
6. ModiJN, Gupta P, Singh T. Competency‑based medical education,
entrustment and assessment. Indian Pediatr 2015;52:413‑20.PMID:
26061928 doi.org/10.1007/s13312‑015‑0647‑5.
7. Somdatta Patra Amir Maroof Khan Development and
implementation of a competency‑based module for teaching
research methodology to medical undergraduates. J Educ
Health Promot 2019;8:164.PMID: 31544128 doi.org/10.4103/jehp.
jehp_133_19.
8. Ten Cate O Nuts and bolts of entrustable professional
activities. J Grad Med Educ 2013;5:157‑158.doi.org/10.430/
JGME‑D‑12‑00380.1.
9. Ten Cate O, Scheele F. Competency‑based postgraduate training:
can we bridge the gap between theory and clinical practice? Acad
Med. 2007 Jun; 82(6):542‑7. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e31805559c7.
PMID: 17525536.
10. Batalden P, Leach D, Swing S, Dreyfus H, Dreyfus S. General
competencies and accreditation in graduate medical education.
Health Aff (Millwood). 2002 Sep‑Oct;21(5):103‑11. doi: 10.1377/
hlthaff. 21.5.103. PMID: 12224871.
11. Ghosh A, Bir A. Role of written examination in the assessment
of attitude ethics and communication in medical students:
Perceptions of medical faculties. J Educ Health Promot.
2021 Jan 28;10:23. doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_424_20. PMID: 33688532;
PMCID: PMC7933678.
12. Medical Council of India. College and Course search. Available
from: https://www.mciindia.org/CMS/information‑desk/
college‑and‑course‑search. [Last accessed on 2020 Apr 15].
13. National Medical Commission, Information Desk/National
Faculty Development Programme New/https://www.nmc.org.
in/[Last accessed on 2021 Nov 18].
14. Mahajan R, Badyal DK, Singh T. Online faculty‑development
programme for medical teachers in resource poor settings: Behind
the scene.J Res Med Educ Ethics 2017;7:163‑8.
15. Medical Council of India. Curriculum Implementation Support
Program (CISP I): First Year Report; 2019. p. 1‑49.
16. Deswal BS, Singhal VK. Problems of medical education in India.
Int J Community Med Public Health 2016;3:1905‑9.
17. Rustagi SM, Mohan C, Verma N, BinduT Nair. Competency‑based
medical education: The perceptions of faculty. J Med Acad
2019;2:1‑5.
18. Kulkarni P, Pushpalatha K, Bhat D. Medicaleducation in India:
Past, present, and future. APIK J Int Med 2019;7:69‑73.
19. Caverzagie KJ, Nousiainen MT, Ferguson PC, Ten Cate O, Ross S,
Harris KA et al., Overarching challenges to the implementation
of competency‑based medical education. Med Teach. 2017 Jun;
39(6):588‑593. doi: 10.1080/0142159X.2017.1315075. PMID: 28598747.
20. Herur A, Kolagi S. Competency‑based medical education: Need of
the hour: Let’s do our bit…!!. BLDE Univ J Health Sci 2016;1:59‑60.
Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 12, Issue 5
June 2022
Pages 1-7

Home

Guide for Authors

Submit Manuscript

Reviewers

Contact Us