Determining competencies for the development of curriculum of Community Medicine and Family Medicine for undergraduate medical students

Abstract

Pankaja Ravi Raghav, Dewesh Kumar, Pankaj Bhardwaj

Objective: This research was planned to determine the set of competencies for training of undergraduate medical students in the Department of Community Medicine & Family Medicine (CMFM), so that the graduates can develop the skills to perform the expected roles in providing health care to the community. Methods: Different qualitative methods were used for determination of competencies in phases, amongst which the Delphi was the important technique for this study to arrive at a consensus regarding core competencies and skills to be acquired during undergraduate training. Two Delphi rounds were conducted. The experts from different specialties e.g. academicians, consultants, researchers etc were invited to participate through e-mail and data collection was done through this process only.Results: In Delphi I round 46 participants responded and after analysis of Delphi I round, the modified questionnaire was sent to all the Delphi I participants again. In Delphi-II, only 26 participants responded. These responses were considered in the preparation of final lists of competencies and skills. Based on the findings, the consensus was made on the core competencies and skills. Conclusion: The various skills listed in the document will help in developing competency-based curriculum in CMFM which needs to be reviewed time to time as per the requirement.