AMEE Guide No. 14: Outcome-based education: Part 1-An introduction to outcome-based education

TLDR

Outcome‑based education is a performance‑based curriculum approach that defines clear, unambiguous outcomes for the type of doctor to be produced, addressing the need to prepare physicians for a complex, evolving healthcare environment. The paper aims to determine which outcomes to include, how to assess them, and how to implement outcome‑based education. Outcome‑based education structures the curriculum by specifying outcomes that guide content, teaching methods, assessment, and scheduling, often illustrated with a three‑circle model linking tasks, approaches, and professional growth. Outcome‑based education enhances curriculum relevance, accountability, and clarity, promotes shared responsibility between teachers and students, and provides a framework for assessment and course evaluation.

Abstract

AbstractOutcome-based education, a performance-based approach at the cutting edge of curriculum development, offers a powerful and appealing way of reforming and managing medical education.The emphasis is on the product-what sort of doctor will be produced-rather than on the educational process. In outcome-based education the educational outcomes are clearly and unambiguously specified. These determine the curriculum content and its organisation, the teaching methods and strategies, the courses offered, the assessment process, the educational environment and the curriculum timetable.They also provide a framework for curriculum evaluation. A doctor is a unique combination of different kinds of abilities. A three-circle model can be used to present the learning outcomes in medical education, with the tasks to be performed by the doctor in the inner core, the approaches to the performance of the tasks in the middle area, and the growth of the individual and his or her role in the practice of medicine in the outer area. Medical schools need to prepare young doctors to practise in an increasingly complex healthcare scene with changing patient and public expectations, and increasing demands from employing authorities. Outcome-based education offers many advantages as a way of achieving this. It emphasises relevance in the curriculum and accountability, and can provide a clear and unambiguous framework for curriculum planning which has an intuitive appeal. It encourages the teacher and the student to share responsibility for learning and it can guide student assessment and course evaluation. What sort of outcomes should be covered in a curriculum, how should they be assessed and how should outcome-based education be implemented are issues that need to be addressed.