Article
Competencies and frameworks in interprofessional education: a comparative analysis
Academic Medicine
(2014)
Abstract
Health professionals need preparation and
support to work in collaborative practice
teams, a requirement brought about by
an aging population and increases in
chronic and complex diseases. Therefore,
health professions education has seen the
introduction of interprofessional education
(IPE) competency frameworks to provide a
common lens through which disciplines can
understand, describe, and implement teambased
practices. Whilst an admirable aim,
often this has resulted in more confusion
with the introduction of varying definitions
about similar constructs, particularly in
relation to what IPE actually means.
The authors explore the nature of the
terms competency and framework,
while critically appraising the concept
of competency frameworks and
competency-based education. They
distinguish between competencies for
health professions that are profession
specific, those that are generic, and
those that may be achieved only
through IPE. Four IPE frameworks are
compared to consider their similarities
and differences, which ultimately
influence how IPE is implemented. They
are the Interprofessional Capability
Framework (United Kingdom), the
National Interprofessional Competency
Framework (Canada), the Core
Competencies for Interprofessional
Collaborative Practice (United
States), and the Curtin University
Interprofessional Capability Framework
(Australia).
The authors highlight the need for
further discussion about establishing
a common language, strengthening
ways in which academic environments
work with practice environments,
and improving the assessment of
interprofessional competencies and
teamwork, including the development
of assessment tools for collaborative
practice. They also argue that for IPE
frameworks to be genuinely useful,
they need to augment existing
curricula by emphasizing outcomes
that might be attained only through
interprofessional activity.
Disciplines
Publication Date
2014
DOI
10.1097/ACM.0000000000000249
Citation Information
Thistlethwaite, J., Forman, D., Matthews, L., Rogers, G., Steketee, C., and Yassine, T. ( 2014). Competencies and frameworks in interprofessional education: a comparative analysis. Academic Medicine, 89(6), 869-875. DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000000249