Evidence, policy and implementation for medical educators.
A curated SIG update on developments that materially affect competency-based undergraduate medical education, clinical communication, assessment and faculty development.
Last reviewed: 13 September 2026
What is worth knowing now
The aim is not to reproduce every circular. We flag changes and developments that may matter to educators, curriculum committees and medical education units.
NMC CBME Curriculum 2024 remains the current undergraduate curriculum reference
The NMC regulations index lists the Competency Based Medical Education Curriculum 2024 dated 12 September 2024, together with an additional clarification dated 10 October 2024. The revised curriculum applies from the MBBS batch of 2024–25 onwards.
Open NMC regulations index ↗ REGULATORY CONTEXT · 2025–2026Undergraduate institutional standards have continued to change
The current NMC index records amendments to the 2023 undergraduate minimum-standard guidelines dated 2 July 2025 and 23 April 2026. We will flag changes here when they have a direct educational or implementation implication.
Check the current NMC index ↗ MEDICAL EDUCATION RESEARCH · JUL 2026NMC and ICMR have explicitly foregrounded research on quality of medical education
The NMC news archive records a joint ICMR–NMC 2026 call for research on strengthening and enhancing the quality of medical education. The SIG will track outputs relevant to clinical communication, competency development and implementation.
View NMC news archive ↗National consultation moving from mapping to action.
The 2026 national consultation has now received 152 responses representing 147 unique medical institutions across 31 States and Union Territories. The findings identify a clear implementation gap between widespread communication teaching and the longitudinal use of learner performance.
On 20 September 2026, SIG Clinical Communication released From Intent to Implementation, setting out priorities for longitudinal competency development, assessment, faculty support, multilingual communication and institutional evaluation.
Selected studies for medical educators
Each brief separates study findings from interpretation, identifies important limitations and considers what the evidence may mean for teaching, practice and assessment.
What can process assessment tell us about communication curriculum delivery?
A 126-student observational study from central India used structured learner and observer measures to examine engagement, facilitator behavior and session delivery.
Read Evidence Brief → CLINICAL COMMUNICATION · 2024Do teaching, clinical practice and OSCE assessment actually align?
An observational study followed the same learners across classroom, real-patient and OSCE settings and found that communication behaviors changed substantially by context.
Read Evidence Brief → ASSESSMENT · 2025How strong is the validity evidence behind communication assessment?
A scoping review of 146 studies and 98,394 participants mapped where communication-assessment validity evidence is strong—and where important gaps remain.
Read Evidence Brief → EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY · 2026Virtual patients for communication training: promising, but how certain is the evidence?
An umbrella review found possible short-term benefits, but major heterogeneity and critically low review quality limit confidence about long-term transfer to clinical practice.
Read Evidence Brief →Current, selective and explicit about uncertainty.
CBME Update is a curated service rather than a comprehensive regulatory feed. Official NMC sources remain authoritative for regulatory decisions.
Evidence briefs distinguish study findings from SIG interpretation. Policy items are dated and reviewed so older material is not presented as a new development.