Reimagining Medical Education through Community Immersion: A Systematic Review of the National Medical Commission’s Family Adoption Program for Indian Medical Graduates

Background: The National Medical Commission (NMC) Family Adoption Program (FAP) is an important component of undergraduate Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) in India, providing students with longitudinal exposure to families and community health contexts. However, evidence regarding its educational effectiveness remains heterogeneous. Methodology: A systematic review of studies evaluating FAP within undergraduate MBBS education was conducted. Electronic searches of PubMed, Google Scholar and ResearchGate were performed for publications from February 2022 to July 2026. Of 466 records identified, 414 were excluded during the initial eligibility assessment, leaving 52 for title and abstract screening. Twenty-eight were subsequently excluded because they were unrelated to FAP, contained insufficient information, or involved non-MBBS educational settings. Results: Across the 24 included studies, FAP was consistently associated with favourable student perceptions of community exposure, experiential learning, communication, family engagement, social responsibility and professional development. Emerging evidence suggested improvements in self-efficacy, communication and empathy, with some studies incorporating objective competency-based assessments. FAP was associated with greater reported awareness of socioeconomic circumstances, healthcare access, cultural factors and social determinants of health. Conclusions: FAP provides an acceptable and educationally plausible framework for experiential, community-oriented learning within undergraduate CBME, with potential benefits across communication, social awareness, family engagement and professional development. However, current evidence is insufficient to establish the magnitude, durability or causal effectiveness of these outcomes.