Consensus on Core Competencies for Preventive Medicine Residents

Abstract

Of the currently available literature on assessment of physician competency, very little applies to the needs of preventive medicine specialists. Yet the diversity of the field and the confusion among other medical specialists about the particular expertise of preventive medicine physicians suggest a need for consensus on fundamental competencies expected of graduates of preventive medicine residency training programs. We apply theoretical material on competency-based education from teacher training and instructional development to professional training in preventive medicine. We describe the process by which the Graduate Medical Education Subcommittee of the American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM), a working group of specialists, derived and refined core competencies in working sessions at professional meetings. The drafts produced at these sessions were circulated widely to residency directors and other individuals and groups in preventive medicine before being approved by the ACPM Board of Regents and included in the Residency Training Manual distributed by ACPM. This article includes this list of core competencies for preventive medicine residents. In addition, the article describes assumptions about competency development that guided the process and identifies recurrent problems in competency development. This information may be helpful to readers who wish to develop additional competencies or to tailor these competencies for their own preventive medicine residency programs.