Building the 8-Star Doctor: A Modified Delphi Study to Define, Teach, and Assess Health Professions Education for Undergraduate Medical Students

Background Globally, medical education is evolving to align with integrated curricula; however, consensus on core Health Professions Education (HPE) content for undergraduate medical students remains limited. This study aims to identify, refine, and structure essential HPE topics within the MBBS curriculum to enhance students’ foundational skills in teaching, leadership, and professionalism. Additionally, it seeks to determine appropriate teaching methodologies and assessment strategies for the identified content, ensuring effective integration into undergraduate medical education. Methods This multi-phase study involved a literature review, refinement through the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) with 19 experts, and a three-round Modified e-Delphi process with 69 HPE experts across Pakistan. Experts rated the importance of topics using a three-point Likert scale, and items achieving ≥ 80% agreement were included. Stability was tested using McNemar’s test, and teaching strategies and assessment methods were aligned during the final round. Results The Nominal Group Technique (NGT) refined 54 initial content items into 37, eliminating 12, rephrasing 5, and adding 2. Through the Delphi process, 17 items achieved consensus, including bedside teaching, procedural skills, leadership, medical ethics, patient safety, and communication skills. Teaching strategies such as small-group discussions (SGD) and large-group interactive sessions (LGIS) accounted for over 50% agreement. Objective Structured Teaching Exercises (OSTE) emerged as the preferred assessment method. The response rates for the three Delphi rounds were 93%, 96%, and 90%, respectively Conclusion The study offers a structured framework for integrating HPE into undergraduate medical curricula, emphasizing pragmatic assessments and evidence-based teaching strategies. These findings are globally relevant, providing a roadmap for scalable curricular reform in five-year undergraduate medical programs.