Competency-based continuing professional development

Abstract

Competence is traditionally viewed as the attainment of a static set of attributes rather than a dynamic process in which physicians continuously use their practice experiences to "progress in competence" toward the attainment of expertise. A competency-based continuing professional development (CPD) model is premised on a set of learning competencies that include the ability to (a) use practice information to identify learning priorities and to develop and monitor CPD plans; (b) access information sources for innovations in development and new evidence that may potentially be integrated into practice; (c) establish a personal knowledge management system to store and retrieve evidence and to select and manage learning projects; (d) construct questions, search for evidence, and record and track conclusions for practice; and (e) use tools and processes to measure competence and performance and develop action plans to enhance practice. Competency-based CPD emphasizes self-directed learning processes and promotes the role of assessment as a professional expectation and obligation. Various approaches to defining general competencies for practice require the creation of specific performance metrics to be meaningful and relevant to the lifelong learning strategies of physicians. This paper describes the assumptions, advantages, and challenges of establishing a CPD system focused on competencies that improve physician performance and the quality and safety of patient care. Implications for competency-based CPD are discussed from an individual and organizational perspective, and a model to bridge the transition from residency to practice is explored.

An innovative approach to identifying learning needs for intrinsic CanMEDS roles in continuing professional development

“…From these responses, three themes emerged [1]: Leadership Skills , which included responses related to the development of leadership skills; [2] Practice management , which described learning needs around practice management and administrative duties [3]; and Budgeting and Financing , which included responses related to financial aspects of clinical practice, such as billing and health insurance developments.…”

“…Practicing clinicians must participate in various continuing professional development (CPD) activities in order to maintain and/or enhance competence within their clinical and professional roles [1]. Over the past two decades, there has been an evolution in what it means to be a competent physician [2–5].…”

It’s Only a Matter of Time: Clock Hours vs. Competency

“…(6) Competency-based assessment strategies may also make more use of peer evaluation and self-evaluation methods that help each student become more aware of their own strengths and weaknesses, and direct future learning efforts to address areas of deficiency. (7) CBE models represent the future of education. These approaches hold great promise for solving many of the training challenges we currently face, as well as helping to produce much better practitioners for the future.…”

Review article: Leading the future: guiding two predominant paradigm shifts in medical education through scholarship

“…These definitions necessitate that competence must be conditional on, and constrained by, each physician's practice context, and this required context should be dynamic and continually changing over time. 33 If we accept the concept of progression of competence, then we also need to consider deconstructing the traditional silos of undergraduate, postgraduate, and continuing medical education and adopt a philosophy of lifelong learning. A movement to CBE and lifelong learning may also have a secondary gain of de-emphasizing the reliance on static third-party (i.e., Medical Council of Canada, Royal College of Physicians Surgeons Canada) high-stakes summative examinations that usually focus solely on medical expert competencies.…”