Core competencies for health care professionals: what medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy share.

Abstract

This paper describes the amalgamation of the core competencies identified for medicine, nursing, physical therapy, and occupational therapy and the "harmonization" of these competencies into a framework for interprofessional education. The study was undertaken at a Canadian university with a Faculty of Health Sciences comprised of three schools (namely, medicine, nursing, and rehabilitation therapy). Leaders in interprofessional education began to identify the common standards for the core competencies expected of learners in all three schools at commensurate levels to facilitate the integration of educational curricula aimed at interprofessional education across the Faculty. The model that was created serves as a basis for curriculum design and assessment of individuals and groups of learners from different domains across and within the four professions. It particularly highlights the relevance of cross-disciplinary competency teaching and 360-degree evaluation in teams. Most importantly, it provides a launch pad for clarifying performance standards and expectations in interdisciplinary learning.