NBME names Dr. Jason Frank recipient of prestigious medical education research award

Jason R. Frank, MD, FRCPC, MA, FAOA, has been named the recipient of NBME’s 2026 John P. Hubbard Award. Established in 1983, this annual award recognizes significant contributions in the field of medical education and assessment.

Dr. Frank, a professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Ottawa and the founding director for the Centre for Innovation in Medical Education at the university, discovered his interest in medical education as a first-year medical student working on the CanMEDS Competency Project beginning in 1994. He was so inspired, he took a two-year sabbatical to pursue a master’s degree in education; his thesis was an evaluation of the Educating Future Physicians for Ontario fellowship program. More than 30 years later, Dr. Frank has become one of the world’s leading authorities on the conceptualization, development and implementation of competency-based medical education systems.

“Any time an academic like me gets recognition from their peers, it’s special, because your peers know what you’re trying to do,” Dr. Frank said. “So, it’s an acknowledgment of your efforts. And the Hubbard Award is a particular honor because it’s recognized around the world.”

Recently, Dr. Frank was appointed vice president of medical education at The Ottawa Hospital and senior advisor for workplace-based assessment for the Medical Council of Canada. Prior to these roles, Dr. Frank worked 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.

Dr. Frank’s impact on the improvement of assessment methodology is significant. One of the most revolutionary shifts in modern-day medical education occurred as a result of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada’s Competence by Design Project, which Dr. Frank orchestrated as its founder, chair and principal education designer. The project reshaped medical education and training in Canada and beyond by placing competency-based education at the core of health care training, emphasizing patient- and learner-centered outcomes over the duration of one’s education program or experiences.

“Dr. Frank has transformed assessment frameworks and methodology,” Geoffrey A. Talmon, MD, MEd, chair of the John P. Hubbard Award selection committee, said. “While this alone would make him a worthy recipient of the Hubbard Award, Dr. Frank has also been a remarkable ambassador for our field, using his vast influence to establish and animate global collaboration.”

An emergency medicine physician at The Ottawa Hospital, Dr. Frank said he has always been motivated by the simple idea of serving people.

“Medical education is not an end in itself,” he said. “It’s really an enterprise for all of us to make better doctors. Better doctors result in better care. And then we can serve the public better.”

Dr. Frank credited several mentors with inspiring him to explore competency-based education — people who could be considered pioneers in the field now, although what they were conceptualizing and trying to implement at the time wasn’t yet formally recognized as such. 

Many higher education structures and curricula are time-based, which Dr. Frank finds challenging for medical education because “they don’t guarantee that every graduate has achieved the appropriate level to serve patients well.” He added, “Competency-based training is more complicated to design, but it helps us ensure that every trainee is prepared for the next stage of their career. I was really excited by that. It made a lot of sense to me. So then, we had to figure out ways of doing it well.”

With change of this magnitude, resistance is inevitable. Dr. Frank has found that part easier to navigate through collaboration, which he said makes his work both less isolating and more enjoyable.

In 2009, he founded the International Competency-Based Education Collaborators, a global research network of the foremost thinkers dedicated to advancing competency-based education approaches to medical education and assessment. Today, it is estimated that the forum’s principles are embraced by at least 50 countries.

As he keeps an optimistic eye on how artificial intelligence and rapidly evolving technologies are beginning to reshape assessment, Dr. Frank is focusing more of his attention on the emerging field of workplace-based assessment. 

The John P. Hubbard Award recognizes individuals for their outstanding contributions to the pursuit of assessment excellence in medical education. Dr. Frank becomes part of this esteemed group of 43 individuals whom NBME has recognized throughout the years.