ROLE OF THE MEDICAL EDUCATION UNIT IN COMPETENCY-BASED MEDICAL EDUCATION (CBME): A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW

Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) represents a major transformation in medical education from a predominantly teacher-centred, time-based, and knowledge-oriented system to a learner-centred, outcome-based, and competency-driven approach. In India, the implementation of the Competency-Based Undergraduate Curriculum has increased the need for institutional mechanisms capable of supporting curriculum planning, faculty development, innovative teaching-learning methods, competency-based assessment, educational research, and continuous quality improvement. The Medical Education Unit (MEU) serves as an important academic resource and institutional support system for facilitating these activities. The role of the MEU has expanded beyond conducting isolated faculty development workshops to providing continuous guidance for curriculum implementation, promoting integration, supporting early clinical exposure, facilitating self-directed learning, strengthening skills-based education, improving assessment practices, and encouraging educational scholarship. This review examines the evolving role of MEUs in the implementation and sustainability of CBME in Indian medical colleges. The article discusses the contribution of MEUs to faculty capacity building, curriculum planning, competency mapping, teaching-learning innovations, assessment reform, student support, educational research, and quality assurance. It also highlights the challenges encountered by MEUs, including inadequate infrastructure, shortage of trained personnel, limited protected time, resistance to educational change, variable institutional support, and insufficient longitudinal evaluation of faculty development programmes. Evidence indicates that successful implementation of CBME requires faculty development to be continuous, context-specific, experiential, and supported by feedback rather than limited to one-time workshops. The MEU should therefore function as a permanent academic and quality-improvement body integrated with institutional leadership, curriculum committees, departments, and clinical services. Strengthening MEUs through trained personnel, adequate resources, protected time, institutional authority, educational technology, and outcome-based evaluation can enhance the quality and sustainability of CBME implementation in India.

• National Medical Commission. Competency-Based Undergraduate Curriculum for the Indian Medical Graduate. New Delhi: National Medical Commission.
• Frank JR, Snell LS, Cate OT, Holmboe ES, Carraccio C, Swing SR, et al. Competency-based medical education: Theory to practice. Medical Teacher, 2010; 32(8): 638–645.
• Frank JR, Mungroo R, Ahmad Y, Wang M, De Rossi S, Horsley T. Toward a definition of competency-based education in medicine: A systematic review of published definitions. Medical Teacher, 2010; 32(8): 631–637.
• Carraccio C, Wolfsthal SD, Englander R, Ferentz K, Martin C. Shifting paradigms: From Flexner to competencies. Academic Medicine, 2002; 77(5): 361–367.
• Harden RM. Outcome-based education: The future is today. Medical Teacher, 2007; 29(7): 625–629.
• Gruppen LD, Mangrulkar RS, Kolars JC. The promise of competency-based education in the health professions for improving global health. Human Resources for Health, 2012; 10: 43.
• Adkoli BV, Sood R. Faculty development and medical education units in India: A survey. National Medical Journal of India, 2009; 22(1): 28–32.
• Srinivasan M, Li ST, Meyers FJ, Pratt DD, Collins JB, Braddock C, et al. “Teaching as a Competency”: Competencies for medical educators. Academic Medicine, 2011; 86(10): 1211–1220.
• Steinert Y, Mann K, Anderson B, Barnett BM, Centeno A, Naismith L, et al. A systematic review of faculty development initiatives designed to enhance teaching effectiveness. Medical Teacher, 2016; 38(8): 769–786.
• Sirianni G, Takahashi SG, Myers K. Taking stock of what is known about faculty development in competency-based medical education: A scoping review. Medical Teacher, 2020; 42(8): 909–915.
• Nagaraja MS, Revathi Devi ML. Faculty development programs for implementing competency-based medical education in India: Challenges and opportunities. International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health, 2021; 8: 2149–2153.
• Badyal DK, Singh T. Learning theories: The basics to learn in medical education. International Journal of Applied and Basic Medical Research, 2017; 7(Suppl 1): S1–S3.
• Badyal DK, Singh T. Teaching methods for competency-based medical education. International Journal of Applied and Basic Medical Research, 2019; 9(Suppl 1): S1–S3.
• Sharma R, Bakshi H, Kumar P. Competency-based undergraduate curriculum: A critical view. Indian Journal of Medical Specialities, 2019; 10: 1–3.
• Shrivastava SR, Shrivastava PS. Competency-based medical education: The Indian perspective. Journal of Medical Education, 2020.
• Agrawal S, Singh R, Singh A, Goel A. Decoding CBME through a longitudinal faculty development program: A comparative study. Bioinformation, 2025; 21(7): 2206–2209.
• Exploring faculty perspectives on competency-based medical education: A report from India. Journal of Education and Health Promotion, 2021.
• Ten Cate O. Competency-based postgraduate medical education: Past, present and future. GMS Journal for Medical Education, 2017; 34(5): Doc69.
• Holmboe ES, Sherbino J, Long DM, Swing SR, Frank JR. The role of assessment in competency-based medical education. Medical Teacher, 2010; 32(8): 676–682.
• Norcini J, Burch V. Workplace-based assessment as an educational tool. Medical Teacher, 2007; 29(9–10): 855–871.
• van der Vleuten CPM, Schuwirth LWT, Driessen EW, Govaerts MJB, Heeneman S. Twelve tips for programmatic assessment. Medical Teacher, 2015; 37(7): 641–646.
• Ramani S, Könings KD, Ginsburg S, van der Vleuten CPM. Meaningful feedback through a sociocultural lens. Medical Teacher, 2019; 41(12): 1342–1352.
• Steinert Y. Faculty development: From workshops to communities of practice. Medical Teacher, 2010; 32(5): 425–428.
• Gruppen LD, Burkhardt JC, Fitzgerald JT, Funnell M, Haftel HM, Lypson ML, et al. Competency-based education: Programme design and challenges to implementation. Medical Education, 2016; 50(5): 532–539.
• Frenk J, Chen L, Bhutta ZA, Cohen J, Crisp N, Evans T, et al. Health professionals for a new century: Transforming education to strengthen health systems. The Lancet, 2010; 376: 1923–1958.
• World Health Organization. Transforming and Scaling Up Health Professionals’ Education and Training. Geneva: WHO, 2013.
• Prideaux D. Curriculum design. BMJ., 2003; 326: 268–270.
• Harden RM. The integration ladder: A tool for curriculum planning and evaluation. Medical Education, 2000; 34: 551–557.
• Yardley S, Teunissen PW, Dornan T. Experiential learning: Transforming theory into practice. Medical Teacher, 2012; 34: 161–164.
• Sandars J, Cleary TJ. Self-regulation theory: Applications to medical education. Medical Teacher, 2011; 33: 875–886.