Aligning the Puzzle Pieces: Clarifying the Roles of Educational Bodies in Health Professions Education: A Commentary

Health professions education institutions often host a variety of educational bodies with complementary yet sometimes overlapping mandates. These include the Education Sector and its Education Committee (ES/EC), the Medical Education Department (MED), the Educational Development Center (EDC), the Quality Assurance Center (QAC), the Research Methodology Unit (RMU), and the Institutional Review Board (IRB). While each has an important and independent role, ambiguity in responsibilities can create duplication, inefficiencies, lost responsibility, and gaps in institutional strategy. Recent scholarship emphasizes the need for clarity in governance and integrated structures to ensure effective health professions education.1,2Although prior scholarship has outlined functions of medical education units, little is known about how overlapping mandates are managed in health professions education institutions (HPEI) around the world. This commentary therefore addresses three key questions:1. What are the distinct job descriptions of education-related bodies in HPEI?2. Where do overlaps and ambiguities occur?3. How can integration frameworks reduce inefficiencies?