Coaching and Individualized Learning in Competency‐Based Medical Education: Framework Development and Research Priorities

Introduction: Competency-based medical education (CBME) is a learner-centric and outcomes-based approach to medical training that is essential to improve patient care. Coaching and individualized learning have been proposed to catalyze a core component of CBME, "competency-focused instruction". While coaching and individualized learning hold great theoretical and conceptual benefit to drive future educational initiatives, there remains a paucity of literature on how to incorporate them successfully, particularly in graduate medical education (GME) in Emergency Medicine (EM). A national workgroup of academic EM faculty with expertise in these areas was assembled to identify priority research questions that address key knowledge gaps in the design, delivery, and outcomes of coaching and individualized learning within a CBME framework. Methods: Twelve members with diverse representation convened to conduct a three-round modified Delphi process to help identify high-impact scholarly questions that would inform a discipline-specific research agenda within the broader 2025 Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Consensus Conference on CBME. Results: The final 10 research questions identify a strategic direction to focus future scholarly initiatives relevant to EM and coaching in CBME. Four question categories were identified: coaching effectiveness and outcomes, coaching program design, faculty development and coaching competencies, and learner-centered factors. Implications: The consensus-building process revealed a pivotal period for EM's transition to CBME, with the need for more rigorous, evidence-driven understanding of coaching and individualized learning mechanisms, outcomes, and best practices to optimally prepare faculty and learners for successful implementation. The potential impact of this work not only affects individual learners but brings forth considerations for EM faculty, training programs, and national stakeholders to inform a supportive infrastructure and relevant resources to successfully actualize CBME in EM.