Managing healthcare training activities in colleges using the CDIO approach

Abstract

Training healthcare professionals at the college level needs innovation toward a competency-based approach that closely links theory and professional practice. The CDIO (Conceive – Design – Implement – Operate) approach has proven effective in engineering training, but its application to healthcare management is currently limited to confirming its philosophical suitability and has not yet been concretised into a framework of management content that can be directly applied in practice. Using a combination of document analysis and theoretical modelling, this study compares the characteristics of college-level healthcare training with the 12 CDIO standards. Based on this, a management framework consisting of six components is proposed: managing objectives and learning outcomes; managing the curriculum; managing teaching and clinical practice; managing faculty and practical guidance; managing facilities and the training environment; and managing the evaluation of training outcomes and linking training with human resource utilisation. The research results contribute to supplementing the theoretical basis of competency-based training management in the health sector, while also providing a reference tool for college principals to review, organise, and improve training management toward standardisation. The study also clarifies theoretical limitations and proposes directions for further empirical verification.