Teaching Future Dietitians Leadership: A General Needs Assessment

Abstract

The needs of the patient population are characterized by more chronic or complex health problems and the health care delivery system is constantly undergoing transformation. While discussions among stakeholders about changing the health system are essential, there is a concurrent need to focus on health professions education. There is a need to understand how entry-to-practice standards are used to develop health professions curricula. Based on recent stakeholder consultations and workforce assessments conducted by Dietitians of Canada and provincial interest groups, an emerging area of dietetic competency appears to be leadership. The purpose of this research project was to gain a better understanding around how competency standards are utilized to develop health professions curriculum, with a focus on dietetic curriculum related to management and leadership. To meet this objective, a general needs assessment was conducted using five databases: CINAHL, PubMed, FSTA, Scopus, and ERIC. The ancestry method was incorporated with purposive sampled articles to find additional research articles. The following key terms were included in the search: health professions, dietetics, nutrition, management, leadership, education, curriculum, competency, entry-level. A review of the literature indicates that developing professional competencies in leadership can strengthen some health professionals’ capacity to take on certain roles through competency-based education. In addition, the long-term training effects result in an increase in specific competencies relevant for effective interprofessional collaboration. There is opportunity for pedagogical and practice-based activities to strengthen leadership abilities of future dietetic professionals.