Medical School Use of Competency Frameworks in Learning Objectives: A National Study

• In Event: Curriculum Development Across the Professions

Abstract

Medical schools have learning objectives at multiple stages throughout training, targeting educational goals at the program, course, and event levels. While all United States allopathic medical schools are required to have written learning objectives, schools have the autonomy to choose the language of learning objectives. Schools may choose to write their own original learning objectives, use existing competency frameworks’ language exactly as is, or customize an existing competency framework’s language. As learning objectives have direct impact on curricular content, understanding the sources and language used in learning objectives will guide our understanding of medical school curriculum nationally. This study uses national data of medical school curricula to examine the extent to which schools use language from four publicly-available competency frameworks.

Authors

• Angela D. Blood, Association of American Medical Colleges

• Walter Fitz-William, Association of American Medical Colleges

• Dorothy Andriole, Association of American Medical Colleges

• Jeanne Farnan, University of Chicago Pritzker

• Ara Tekian, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Yoon Soo Park, University of Illinois at Chicago