Mission, Goals & Exit Competencies

Read the mission statement, goals, and exit competencies of the MD Undergraduate Program (MDUP).

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Mission Statement

The University of British Columbia’s MD Undergraduate Program delivers an exemplary model of distributed medical education that prepares future physicians to collaborate with patients and their circle of support in providing culturally safe, high-quality healthcare across the population of BC, including Indigenous Peoples, people living in rural and remote communities, and people who disproportionately experience adverse health care interactions and health outcomes.  Our graduates are prepared to contribute to innovative improvements to healthcare in BC and globally.

The mission of the MD Undergraduate Program is integral to the vision of the Faculty of Medicine, “Transforming Health for Everyone”; and embodies the values of respect, integrity, compassion, collaboration, and equity.

MD Program Goals

The MD Program has been designed to achieve the learner, programmatic, and societal outcomes detailed below which ultimately contribute to the mission of the program.

Exit Competencies

The MDUP Exit Competencies have been revised with the lens of our Social Responsibility and Accountability framework, the Faculty of Medicine Vision and Values and the MDUP Mission statement.  Specifically, equity, diversity and inclusion, a holistic person-centered approach, anti-racism and Indigenous cultural safety are emphasized.  The MDUP Exit Competencies map externally to the CanMEDs roles and AFMC Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs).  Internally, the Exit Competencies map to Enabling Competencies achieved prior to clerkship and prior to graduation.  All curricular objectives map to these enabling competencies.  Our assessment framework maps to our curricular objectives, ensuring that our graduates have met the Exit Competencies of the MDUP on graduation. 

Role Definitions

Medical Expert

The UBC medical graduate provides high quality, culturally safe, collaborative and patient centred care that evolves throughout their training with expanding medical knowledge, clinical skills and professional ethics.  Graduates provide in-person and virtual care in hospital, community, rural and remote settings, that acknowledges provision of care in the face of uncertainty and requires innovation. In undergraduate medical education, the medical expert is committed to comprehensive holistic care and embraces life-long learning.

Beginning with a patient-centred ethos and proceeding with informed consent the graduate partners with the patient to gather and interpret all relevant clinical and non-clinical information, perform an appropriate physical examination, recommend diagnostic procedures and develop and implement a management plan, under appropriate supervision. Contextualized decision-making is guided by evidence-informed best practices, and takes into account the patient’s preferences, circumstances and availability of resources. Their practice is conducted in collaboration with patients, their circle of support, relevant members of the community and other members of the health care team. Graduates of the MD Undergraduate Program are prepared to embrace generalist or specialist postgraduate training to further prepare them for medical practice.

Communicator

As Communicators, physicians develop and maintain patient-centred therapeutic relationships. Through mutual respect and trust, physicians recognize the patient as an active participant in the co-creation of the response to their health concerns.  Using a shared decision-making framework, physicians demonstrate cultural humility when communicating with patients. When interacting with a patient in person or virtually, the physician synthesizes medical information with awareness of their own social location and inherent biases.  Physicians develop a holistic healthcare plan with the patient and their circle of support and maintain patient confidentiality.

Collaborator

As Collaborators, physicians effectively work with humility, compassion, and kindness in teams that include patients and their circle of support, health care team members and communities to achieve optimal patient care.

Leader

As Leaders, physicians proactively contribute to the vision of a high-quality health care system.  Utilizing leadership and management skills, physicians take responsibility for the delivery of excellent patient care through their activities as clinicians, administrators and teachers.

Health Advocate

As Health Advocates, physicians responsibly use their expertise and influence to advance the health and well-being of individual patients, communities, and populations. Through a social justice lens, they act as change agents to improve the functioning of the health care system, and as advocates for their individual patients.

Scholar

As Scholars, physicians demonstrate a lifelong commitment to reflective learning, as well as the creation, dissemination, application and translation of medical knowledge relevant to the patient and community perspectives and populations they serve. Social accountability embraces the inclusive definition of five forms of scholarship:

1. The scholarship of teaching includes transmitting, transforming, and extending knowledge;
2. The scholarship of discovery refers to the pursuit of inquiry and investigation in search of new knowledge;
3. The scholarship of integration consists of making connections across disciplines and, through this synthesis, advancing what we know;
4. The scholarship of application asks how knowledge can be practically applied in a dynamic process whereby new understandings emerge from the act of applying knowledge through an ongoing cycle of theory to practice to theory;
5. The scholarship of engagement connects any of the above dimensions of scholarship to the understanding and solving of pressing social, civic and ethical problems.

Scholarly method is the body of principles and practices to support claims about the subject as valid and trustworthy as possible and to translate knowledge for others.

Professional

As Professionals, physicians recognize the impact of personal biases, identity, power and privilege and are committed to the health and well-being of individuals through competent medical practice; accountability to their patients, the profession, their colleagues, and society; profession-led regulation; ethical behaviour; and maintenance of personal well-being.