Competency-Based Medical Education and the Evolving Role of Anatomical Sciences in Undergraduate Medical Education

Competency-based medical education (CBME) has become a central organizing framework in undergraduate medical education (UME), emphasizing observable performance and developmental progression rather than time-based advancement. This transition carries important implications for foundational disciplines, particularly the anatomical sciences. Historically delivered as a concentrated preclinical experience, anatomy must now function within integrated curricula that prioritize clinical application, longitudinal assessment, and entrustment decisions. This commentary examines how CBME reframes anatomy from a front-loaded knowledge domain to a longitudinal clinical capability, where it constitutes a foundational discipline that shapes clinical competence, patient safety, and procedural reasoning across medical training. It discusses the need for explicit articulation of discipline-specific anatomical competencies aligned with patient care, reconsideration of assessment strategies that extend beyond written examinations, and support for faculty as their roles evolve toward coaching, observation, and performance interpretation. The paper further argues that effective implementation of CBME in anatomy requires deliberate alignment with established learning theories, including principles of deliberate practice, cognitive load management, experiential learning, and self-regulated learning. Without such theoretical grounding, competency frameworks risk functioning as administrative structures rather than mechanisms for expertise development. By integrating clearly defined competencies, theory-informed pedagogy, and programmatic assessment, anatomical sciences can maintain their central role in preparing clinically competent physicians within contemporary medical education.