Triple C Curriculum

In recent years the College of Family Physicians (CFPC) has diligently reviewed Canada’s postgraduate family medicine residency programs. Recommendations were made by the Working Group on Postgraduate Curriculum Review (WGCR) to advance family medicine residency training into the future. The Triple C report was released by the College in March 2011.

The WGCR, a subcommittee of the Section of Teachers Council, proposed the introduction of a competency based curriculum for family medicine residency training, based on the CanMEDS–Family Medicine (CanMEDS-FM) framework of competencies and the Evaluation Objectives in Family Medicine.

The goal of the Triple C Competency-based Curriculum (Triple C) is to ensure that every family medicine training program in Canada develops graduates who are:

  • competent to provide comprehensive care;

  • prepared for the evolving needs of society; and

  • taught the best available evidence on patient care and medical education.

Competency-based Curriculum

The shift toward competency-based education is in keeping with the need for medical education to meet societal expectations of accountability. It depends upon well-defined program outcomes, resident assessment methodologies and an integrated curriculum design. This outcomes-oriented approach will take the place of the traditional time-based educational. It requires residents to be active learners, shifting the role of a resident supervisor toward that of a resident's "coach."

The competency objectives developed by the CFPC (CanMEDS-FM, priority topics and key features, six skill dimensions and family medicine contexts and clinical domains) will guide programs to provide appropriate educational opportunities for residents and benchmark the selection of content, learning experiences, learning environment, assessment strategies and remediation planning.

Three components of Triple C:

Comprehensive Education and Patient Care

Comprehensive programs are essential to family medicine resident training. Family medicine residents need to learn and demonstrate skills across a spectrum of clinical domains, such as psychiatric care and care of the elderly, and in health promotion and disease prevention. A comprehensive residency curriculum will graduate family physicians confident in their ability to offer a full range of care, while understanding that learning will continue throughout their career.

Continuity of Education and Patient Care

Continuity of education and patient care is central to the development of family physicians whose practice is truly comprehensive. Continuity of patient care solidifies strong relationships between physicians and patients, which is fundamental to our discipline. Teaching and assessment facilitated by a core group of primary preceptors allows for resident-supervisor relationships and contributes to authentic assessment of learners over time. This helps to nurture the trust and honesty necessary to develop learning experiences shaped through ongoing feedback and assessment. Programs centred in family medicine will increase the continuity of the learning environment.

Centred in Family Medicine

Family medicine should be at the core of family medicine residency programs. The context of learning should be:

  • primarily within family medicine settings;

  • relevant to the needs of future family physicians; and

  • controlled and managed by family medicine program coordinators.

Family medicine training can be augmented with teachers and contexts outside the discipline for residents to achieve the full range of competencies. However, the learning content must be relevant and in the context of family medicine education.

Oandasan, I. Advancing Canada's family medicine curriculum: Triple C. Can Fam Physician June 2011 57: 739-740 Triple C Competency-based curriculum. Report of the Working Group on Postgraduate Curriculum Review - Part 1. March 2011
 

For more information visit the CFPC Triple C website