The transition to competency-based pediatric training in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Although competency-based medical education has become the standard forphysician training in the West, many developing countries have not yetadopted competency-based training. In 2009 in the United Arab Emirates,the government regulatory and operational authorities for healthcare inAbu Dhabi mandated a wide-scale reform of the emirate's postgraduateresidency programs to the competency-based framework of the newly formedAccreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-International(ACGME-I). This article briefly describes the rationale forcompetency-based medical education and provides an overview of thetransition from traditional, time-based residency training tocompetency-based postgraduate medical education for the Pediatricsresidency programs in Abu Dhabi. We will provide data on the initialimpact of this transition on resident performance and patient outcomesin a Pediatrics residency program in an academic medical center in theUnited Arab Emirates.