Overseas Residency Training Systems and Implications for Korea

Abstract

Medical education, competency, and outcome-based medical education started as part of the basic medical education curriculum in advanced countries 20 years ago, and such an approach was adopted in residency training. General competency training is at the core of residency training in advanced countries, and it goes beyond competency and outcome-based training to the extent that in a milestone training system, competency development is expected and measured with set competency achievements at each level. Recently, for the purpose of ensuring that doctors uphold patient safety and fulfill their obligations, entrustable professional activities (EPA) were applied at the beginning of residency when doctors move away from clinical trials and start actual care. The adoption of EPA in all residency training curriculum has spread very rapidly in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. Presently, Korea lags behind other countries significantly as the adoption of competency and outcome-based medical education in residency training has just begun. It is time to identify the current state of the Korean residency training system, and then design and practice a well-established system with a long-term view based on cooperation across the whole medical industry.