Competencies related to generalism for Japanese medical undergraduates: Essential skills for comprehensive care

To identify generalism-related competencies that medical students in Japan should acquire in order to provide comprehensive care for patients.

The team responsible for developing the new 'Generalism' section of the 2022 revision of the Model Core Curriculum for Medical Education in Japan (MCC) consisted of nine members from diverse medical backgrounds across Japan. We adopted pragmatism paradigm and analyzed to identify decision-making processes using a qualitative document analysis.

The competency list was presented as a four-tier structure. The first tier of generalism was defined as 'take a multi-systemic view of the patient's problems and consider the patient's psychosocial background in order to provide comprehensive, flexible medical care that responds to the needs of the patient and is not limited to one's own specialty, supporting the achievement of individual and societal well-being.' The second tier was framed in terms of 'perspectives' and constructed of four different domains: 'holistic,' 'community,' 'life,' and 'social.'

We identified and defined the competencies required by medical students in Japan to provide comprehensive care for patients. By including these competencies in the MCC, undergraduate medical education will be better placed to respond to anticipated changes in the demand for medical care in Japan. Success factors in our guideline development process include facilitating a collaborative and iterative development process, ensuring that diverse perspectives are integrated, and using practical examples and feedback to refine competencies based on a pragmatic approach.