Although no standard definition exists, health professions competencies are commonly used to specify the level of knowledge, skills, and abilities or attitudes necessary for success in a given profession ( Albanese, Mejicano, & Gruppen, 2008 ; Busenhart, 2014 ). Scholars ( Frank et. al., 2010 ) synthesized scholarly works for the past 40 years to summarize that “competency is an observable ability of a health professional, integrating multiple components such as knowledge, skills, values and attitudes. Since competencies are observable, they can be measured and assessed to assure their acquisition.”
Published in Chapter:
A Systematic Review of Competency-Based Education Effort in the Health Professions: Seeking Order Out of Chaos
Wenxia Wu (Eastern Virginia Medical School, USA), Brian C. Martin (Eastern Virginia Medical School, USA), and Chen Ni (Kent State University, USA)
Copyright: © 2017
|Pages: 27
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-0932-5.ch018
Abstract
Quality healthcare cannot be achieved without competent health professionals. Competency-based education (CBE) is an educational delivery option that may prove to be effective in meeting that need. Through a systematic literature review using content analysis techniques, this chapter explores the conceptual complexity and operational challenges of using CBE in health professions education. Drawing a picture of how competencies are defined and developed in the context of health professions education, this chapter summarizes current practices of integration, delivery, and assessment of competencies. Challenges, emerging trends, and future research directions are also identified. This review found that, unlike in medical education, there are different sets of competencies for most various healthcare disciplines and sub-disciplines and this review suggests that CBE can be a viable model that will enable health professions education to address the diverse needs of health professionals.