Dr. Jason R. Frank joins the MCC to support the expansion of workplace-based assessment program

The Medical Council of Canada (MCC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Jason R. Frank to the part-time role of senior medical advisor. Dr. Frank, a renowned physician, medical educator, and leading expert in competency-based medical education (CBME), will provide strategic advice for the MCC’s workplace-based assessment (WBA) program.  

Dr. Frank is a professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine, the founding director of the Centre for Innovation in Medical Education (CiMED) at the University of Ottawa, and an attending physician at the Ottawa Hospital. Internationally recognized for his work on the CanMEDS project, a physician competency framework, he is regarded as one of the pioneers of CBME. He is also the founder and chair of the International CBME Collaborators Consortium and Competence by Design initiative. He has previously served as the director of specialty education, strategy and standards in the Office of Specialty Education at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. 

The MCC is currently working to establish its WBA program to better assist medical regulatory authorities and Practice-Ready Assessment programs as part of supporting accelerated pathways to licensure. This initiative focuses on developing standardized and centralized solutions for conducting valid and defensible WBA of internationally trained physicians in authentic professional environments. Dr. Frank’s work with the MCC will include expanding its current activities to develop a comprehensive WBA program that can be implemented across Canada. He will collaborate with assessment experts, interested parties, and the MCC team to ensure that the new WBA program framework and roadmap are robust, evidence-based, and serve the needs of the Canadian health care system.