Shifting Anatomy Away From a Time-Based Model: Competency-Based Education Insights for Anatomy Educators

As competency-based education (CBE) gains momentum in health professions, anatomy educators face significant logistical challenges in shifting from time-based content-driven curricula to the assessment-driven CBE model. Effective course planning requires collaboration with clinicians to define essential anatomical knowledge, alongside a strategic reallocation of faculty efforts from traditional teaching roles to the design and implementation of meaningful assessments. As this shift takes place, educators must also tackle the challenge of developing feasible assessments that align with clinical competencies, particularly when integrating human donor-based learning experiences. As part of this broader transition, classroom activities must also evolve to accommodate flexible, asynchronous content delivery, multimodal lab experiences, and case-based learning that supports individualized learning progression. This viewpoint explores those key challenges and offers considerations to help educators preserve the rigor and depth of anatomical education while adapting to a competency-based framework.