The past decade has seen an increased effort to standardized medical curricula internationally. Despite these efforts, a lack of standardization remains evident, most likely owing to the lack of specificity with which such frameworks are often (out of necessity) constructed. As such, inconsistencies may arise owing to differences in adopted definitions and approaches to assessment. The authors highlight six key points to aid the individual educator in translating overarching frameworks into specific learning objectives that are measurable, written at a level of generality, complexity and difficulty that is clear, appropriate and explicit in what is required of the student