Core Competencies For Health Professionals Research Articles

Development of Research Core Competencies for Academic Practice Among Health Professionals: A Mixed-Methods Approach.

Of the 4 pillars of academic practice for nursing and allied health, research has been the least developed and no standard competency framework exists that is embedded in health professional scopes of practice. The objective of this article is to report on the preliminary development and pilot-testing of research and academic scholarship core competencies for nonphysician health professionals working within a large urban academic health sciences center. We conducted an internal and external environmental scan and multiphase consultation process to develop research and academic core competencies for health professionals working within an interprofessional setting. The final framework outlines 3 levels of research proficiency (novice, proficient, and advanced) and the relevant roles, specific competencies, and observable actions and/or activities for each proficiency level. Organizations should consider the integration of the framework within performance management processes and the development of a road map and self-assessment survey to track progress over time and support health professionals with their academic practice goals.

Perceptions and experiences of employers and mentors of graduate optometrists’ practice readiness in South Africa

Background. Optometry graduates are a key source of new recruits for private practice employers, the largest employer of South African (SA) optometry graduates. Universities should ensure that graduates are employable to compete in the labour market and to practise.Objective. To gain an understanding of the practice readiness of optometry graduates who qualified from SA institutions between 2016 and 2020, from the perspective of private practice employers and mentors (EMs).Methods. Using non-probability convenience sampling, private optometry EMs of recent graduates were invited to complete an online questionnaire designed around the core competencies for health professionals in SA. Quantitative data retrieved from a five-point Likert scale were analysed employing SPSS software, using the one-sample t-test, factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha.Results. EMs (N=28) felt that graduates showed satisfactory competence in theoretical knowledge, communication, collaboration and professional skills, but weaknesses in aspects of clinical skills, leadership and management skills, and health-advocacy skills. The specific areas of weaknesses identified were dispensing skills, leadership, handling of criticism, handling of stress, implementing processes to improve services, industry awareness and practice management. All questions, except two questions for scholarly and professional skills, had an acceptable level of reliability.Conclusion. Practice readiness was viewed favourably by EMs for optometry graduates, but the specific weaknesses identified in the curriculum include stakeholder involvement from private employers. Increasing the diversity of clinical hours, including rotations in private practices, as well as facilitating and promoting work-based learning may strengthen practice readiness.

Education Topics for the Development of Doctors’ Public Healthcare Competencies

Needs for public healthcare have recently increased. This paper proposes education topics for competency development in public healthcare in line with the needs of the times. In Korea, various lifelong education providers have already provided public health-related education. For example, the Research Institute for Health Policy (RIHP) under the Korean Medical Association provided an “executive course for physicians’ public health care competencies” in 2019 and 2020. At the end of the course, the RIHP published a comprehensive report, entitled “Curricular development and evaluation for doctors’ public healthcare competencies.” This article is based on a summary of that report. To develop a curriculum for public healthcare, the RIHP adopted the following methodologies for a needs analysis; reviewing already-existing education subjects, evaluating end-of-course reports, and conducting in-depth focused group interviews and questionnaire surveys with doctors at public healthcare-related institutions. The results from the needs analysis can be categorized into two domains of education topics for public healthcare. The first domain includes education subjects related to the theory and practice of public healthcare, as follows: a general overview, community or population health, organizational administration, planning and evaluation, budget and finance, responses to disasters such as infectious diseases, health policy, and the legal system. The second domain contained education topics related to general professional competencies: leadership, communication, cooperation, teamwork, and professionalism. In conclusion, the curricular content for public healthcare will be an appropriate combination of competencies specific to public healthcare and core competencies for health professionals.

Core competencies for health professionals in global health

IntroductionThe world is becoming increasingly globalised and this has a major impact on the delivery of healthcare. Issues such as conflict, migration, climate change and technological advances all contribute to this. But are we equipped to deal with the challenges of Global Health?ObjectivesTo discuss the core competencies that health professionals should have in Global Health.MethodsThe UK's Global Health Curriculum Group (GHCG), a group of healthcare professionals, was commissioned by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges to lead a consultation on global health competencies. The consultation took the form of a modified Policy Delphi which involved an online survey and face-to-face and telephone interviews over three rounds. Over 250 stakeholders participated, including doctors, other health professionals, policymakers and members of the public from all continents of the world.ResultsThis study demonstrated broad agreement that global health competence is essential for postgraduate doctors and other health professionals. It identified five core competencies, relevant to the UK and applicable to other parts of the world: (1) diversity, human rights and ethics; (2) environmental, social and economic determinants of health; (3) global epidemiology; (4) global health governance; and (5) health systems and health professionals.ConclusionsThis framework of five core competencies aims to equip psychiatrists and other doctors with the skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary to practice in a globalised world.In the workshop we will harness the international nature of the delegates attending the congress to enable a lively debate about the meaning of global mental health and the skills psychiatrists need.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Interprofessional socialization as a way to introduce collaborative competencies to first-year health science students

Interprofessional education (IPE) is the cornerstone of preparing future health care providers but remains to be a challenge for many health science programs. We aimed to develop and evaluate an interprofessional conference for first-year health science students with goals to provide students with interprofessional socialization opportunity and introduce IPE principles. A half-day conference was based upon core competencies for health professionals and involved 277 first-year health sciences, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, and speech language pathology and audiology students. Alcohol and substance misuse was chosen as a topic for its relevance to college students and health professionals. Results from program evaluation revealed that the conference was successful in exposing students to core interprofessional competencies and provided useful information about alcohol and substance misuse. This study advocates for early inclusion of IPE in the health professions curricula in the form of interprofessional socialization.

Core Competencies for Health Professionals' Training in Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Care: A Delphi Study

The need to train non-sleep-specialist health professionals in evidence-based pediatric behavioral sleep care is well established. The objective of the present study was to develop a list of core competencies for training health professionals in assisting families of 1- to 10-year old children with behavioral insomnia of childhood. A modified Delphi methodology was employed, involving iterative rounds of surveys that were administered to 46 experts to obtain consensus on a core competency list. The final list captured areas relevant to the identification and treatment of pediatric behavioral sleep problems. This work has the potential to contribute to the development of training materials to prepare non-sleep-specialist health professionals to identify and treat pediatric behavioral sleep problems, ideally within stepped-care frameworks.

Curriculum Providing Cognitive Knowledge and Problem-Solving Skills for Anesthesia Systems-Based Practice

Residency programs accredited by the ACGME are required to teach core competencies, including systems-based practice (SBP). Projects are important for satisfying this competency, but the level of knowledge and problem-solving skills required presupposes a basic understanding of the field. The responsibilities of anesthesiologists include the coordination of patient flow in the surgical suite. Familiarity with this topic is crucial for many improvement projects. A course in operations research for surgical services was originally developed for hospital administration students. It satisfies 2 of the Institute of Medicine's core competencies for health professionals: evidence-based practice and work in interdisciplinary teams. The course lasts 3.5days (eg, 2 weekends) and consists of 45 cognitive objectives taught using 7 published articles, 10 lectures, and 156 computer-assisted problem-solving exercises based on 17 case studies. We tested the hypothesis that the cognitive objectives of the curriculum provide the knowledge and problem-solving skills necessary to perform projects that satisfy the SBP competency. Standardized terminology was used to define each component of the SBP competency for the minimum level of knowledge needed. The 8 components of the competency were examined independently. Most cognitive objectives contributed to at least 4 of the 8 core components of the SBP competency. Each component of SBP is addressed at the minimum requirement level of exemplify by at least 6 objectives. There is at least 1 cognitive objective at the level of summarize for each SBP component. A curriculum in operating room management can provide the knowledge and problem-solving skills anesthesiologists need for participation in projects that satisfy the SBP competency.

Conceptual framework for pharmacists’ professional development: Implications for future planning

Evolving change in the scope of practice of pharmacists1 and the profession’s envisioned future for pharmacy practice2 should prompt serious consideration of the approach to ensuring competence and professional development of pharmacists. This notion is supported by the mission and outcomes of contemporary pharmacy education,3–5 current accreditation standards and guidelines for the Doctor of Pharmacy degree,6 new blueprint for the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination,7 new accreditation standards for continuing pharmacy education (CPE),8 core competencies for health professionals advocated by the Institute of Medicine (IOM),9 and emerging views of an expanded role of postgraduate pharmacist training and specialist certification.10,11 Meeting the future professional development needs of pharmacists will require a transition from today’s continuing education framework to a process that effectively accomplishes continuing professional development (CPD). The authors of this viewpoint article contend that a professional credentialing framework organized across the three domains of contemporary pharmacy practice can serve as a roadmap that is in alignment with societal need for the professional development of future pharmacists. In addition, using such a framework to help articulate, document, and ensure competence is a critical step in establishing the pharmacist’s professional credibility with other health professionals.

Diversity in Genetic Counseling: Strategies from the LEND Network

To the Editor: We appreciate the article published 17 June 2008, “Diversity in Genetic Counseling: Past, Present and Future,” and its illumination of the issue concerning a lack of ethnic and racial diversity in genetic counseling. The lessons learned regarding the experiences of other health professions offer a solid basis for developing similar initiatives in the field of genetic counseling. Experiences within the network of Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) Programs offer additional strategies to address diversity. LEND programs are federally funded, advanced level interdisciplinary training programs committed to training leaders in the field of neurodevelopmental and related disabilities. There are currently 38 programs in the U.S. In 2005, the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) announced a grant opportunity within the LEND network to increase leadership training in genetic counseling programs, to increase the genetic content in LEND curricula and to develop innovative means to increase the number and diversity of genetic counselors serving children with special health care needs and their families. Three 3-year projects were funded. They included the LEND programs at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, University of Wisconsin, and Virginia Commonwealth University. Funding was provided through the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau.