Designing a curriculum for postgraduate training in family medicine in India

CONTEXT: Family physicians, trained in handling primary care problems through the principles of family medicine (FM), were needed in India. The training required a comprehensive and detailed curriculum that could be implemented across the country. AIM: The aim was to create a document that includes rationale, goals, subject-based objectives, educational methods and assessment methods that align to the objectives. DESIGN AND METHODS: Kern's Six-Step-method was used to create a curriculum document. The six steps are (a) problem identification and general needs assessment, (b) targeted needs assessment, determining and prioritizing content, (c) writing goals and objectives, (d) selecting teaching/education strategies,(e) implementation of the curriculum and (f) evaluation and application of the lessons learnt. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Based on the given steps, a team of faculty identified needs, requirements and barriers, wrote goals and objectives along with aligned educational and assessment methods. The curriculum document was created for FM resident training. The first set of residents have been trained based on this curriculum and an evaluation is being planned.