Redesigning family medicine residency in Canada: the triple C curriculum

Despite a record of excellence, Canadian family medicine residency programs must respond to the changing face of health care and the needs of the population. A working group was established by the College of Family Physicians of Canada to review the current curriculum and make recommendations for change.

Literature reviews of current evidence regarding strategies in postgraduate medical education were carried out, and recent developments in medical education internationally were studied. After recommendations for curriculum change were drafted, workshops, presentations, and peer consultations were conducted over a 4-year period to test ideas and obtain stakeholder feedback.

The core recommendation of the working group is: Residency programs in family medicine are to establish a competency-based curriculum that is comprehensive, focused on continuity, and centered in family medicine--The Triple C Competency-based Curriculum. The working group developed a new framework for family medicine competency in Canada, CanMEDS-FM, to support the transition.

The Triple C Competency-based Curriculum was developed to redesign Canadian family medicine residencies based on a solid rationale. Recommendations for curricular change, as well as the competency framework, CanMEDS-FM, have been accepted enthusiastically by stakeholders. Implementation and evaluation phases are underway.