Implementation of Revised CBME Curriculum 2024: More of a Challenge than an Opportunity

The Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) curriculum for MBBS undergraduates was implemented in 2019 nearly after 21 years.[1] It speaks of 5 primary goals of Indian Medical Graduate (IMG) which is to become: Clinician, Leader & Member of the Health Care Team, Communicator, Lifelong Learner, and Professional. It emphasized upon the development of specific competencies among its learners, bridging the gap between theory and practice. The curriculum was designed to be imparted in three distinct phases: I, II and III. Phase I dealt with basic science; phase II focussed on paraclinical science and phase III emphasized on clinical science. Special highlights were inclusion of Early Clinical Exposure (ECE), Foundation course; a dedicated programme on AETCOM sessions etc to sensitize about the role of attitude ethics and communication; promotion of soft skills and Self-Directed Learning (SDL), and a shift towards both formative and summative assessment. Thus, the 2019 curriculum was designed to be an outcome-oriented learner centric approach with focus on clinical skills, professionalism and ethics. Throughout these phases the primary focus was on developing required skills, knowledge, and attitude revolving around multiple competencies spelt out in the curriculum. Nearly more than 2500 competencies were spelt out for easy understanding of teachers across the country for faster implementation. In order to enable teachers in being effective trainers the National Medical Council (NMC) of India strengthened the teachers’ training programme through RBCW (Revised basic course workshop) for all teachers across India and a special Curriculum Implementation Support Programme (CISP) for training the trainers who are part of the Medical Education Unit (MEU) of all colleges.