Assessment of medical graduates competencies.

Dear Editor, Medical professional proficiency comprises a set of skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to efficiently accomplish the practice of medicine.1 The major aim of undergraduate medical education in the region is to produce doctors who are competent and able to meet the health needs of the community while also being capable of continuing medical education.2 Have the medical schools lived up to their expectations? The answer is not entirely positive.3 Medical school provides the educational experiences necessary for the acquisition of minimum essential competencies in their graduates regardless of where they received their general medical education.4 To a large extent clinical competencies are acquired after qualification, from actual experience in managing patients throughout the career of a doctor.5,6 High quality medical education is central to high quality medical care.7 Assessment of clinical competence is an important part of curricula to satisfy national requirements, to maintain professionalism and to ensure that graduates are prepared for independent clinical practice.8 Competence assessment is also an important aspect of certification and is likely to be a part of physician licensure.9,10 Competency-based education bridges the gap between education and practice.11 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) is the second public university in Malaysia, the medical faculty of which produces doctors to attend to the health needs of the community. The objective of this paper was to identify the competencies of house officers of UKM aimed at continuous review and development of the curriculum.