Continued Evolution in a Global Curriculum in Medical Oncology-what next?

Abstract

This article was migrated. The article was not marked as recommended. The 2016 update to the Global Medical Oncology Curriculum (GC 2016) is a major achievement. However, curriculum renewal is a continuous process and there are currently major changes happening in medical education with moves to a competency based curriculum across multiple stages of life-long learning in medicine. We have reviewed the GC 2016, in comparison to other relevant curricula, with the aim of identifying potential issues that need consideration for the next iteration of the curriculum. We identified the following issues in the curriculum: defining the underlying values, role, scope and external relationships of the global curriculum; expanding the stakeholders involved in its design; further integration of various aspects of professionalism; defining strategic meta-competencies; and finally, defining and aligning core competencies, activities and assessment for medical oncology training. Ongoing curriculum development is required in order to ensure that the global medical oncology curriculum remains relevant in a changing medical and educational environment. Moving to a fully competency based oncology curriculum is a key step in the process of changing the educational focus to outcomes that deliver better quality care.