Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development

There is currently no universally accepted core collection of competencies or medical education material for medical students. Individual medical schools create their own competencies and set of educational material using a variety of approaches.

What has resulted is a medical education system wherein medical students are trained without any burden of proof that they are indeed competent in agreed upon areas of knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors befit of a graduating medical student.

In fact, the only uniform assurance a member of the public in the United States can have for a graduating allopathic medical student is that the student has successfully passed USMLE Step 1 and 2 by correctly answering a rumored 55–65% of questions correctly (yes, that is an F) and that they have maintained at least a “C” average or “Pass” equivalent in all of their medical school courses.

This article discusses these inadequacies within the current medical education system, and the need to standardize the competencies and curricula for all medical schools through a narrative disclosing this author’s experience with trying to initiate such a movement at his own medical school.