Glover Takahashi S1, Nayer M1
1University of Toronto, PostMD Education, Toronto, Canada
Background: This study identifies, describes, and examines the risks and supports to PT competence as discussed in the literature using epidemiology as an analytical model.
Risks to competence are not to be interpreted as indicators or predictors for any one individual, rather as a potential vulnerability that individuals and organizations need to be aware of and that needs to be reasonably managed, mitigated, and moderated.
It is equally important to not view supports to competence as guarantees to ensure competence, but as factors that develop, maintain, or reinforce an individual's knowledge, skills, or abilities, and that an individual and/or organization can monitor and act on.
Purpose: To explore the application of the epidemiological model with blinded PT registrant from 2 jurisdictions in Canada for consistency in the reported risks and supports to competence.
Methods: The registrant data for the 2 PT regulatory bodies (i.e. Alberta, Ontario) were separately analyzed then integrated. In all, 17 data bases, representing over 16,000 registrant records over 3 decades were analyzed.
Following coding, data sets for each jurisdiction were combined into a single database and analyzed. Simple statistics were calculated when appropriate. Cross-tabulations and Chi-Squared statistics were generated to compare the percentages of different categories of registrants with respect to the different assessment tools. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to determine relationships between continuous risk factor variables (e.g. exam score and age).
Results: Risks to competence identified in this study are congruent with the literature on risks to competence, which is predominantly written about physicians. The risks to competence for registrants that stand out the most strongly are: being an internationally educated physical therapist, being male, increasing age, and working at a higher number of worksites over one's career. There were some geographical variations noted. There are correlations among the variables studied, which provide support for the conclusions presented.
The current analysis does not suggest causation or offer specific solutions, though it does present the current understanding of the studied registrants.
Conclusion(s): Epidemiology is a useful to study risks to competence and supports to competence, and to focus the efforts of individuals, programs, and organizations.
PT regulatory and professional organizations would benefit from further work on risks to competence and supports to competence:
Implications: Individual PTs would benefit from understanding their personal risks and what supports can moderate or mitigate their capacity for competent practice throughout their career. PT organizations should partner to support PT competence using an epidemiological approach.
Keywords: Competence, practice, epidemiology
Funding acknowledgements: The research about the PT data for each 2 regulatory college was funded by those organizations.
Risks to competence are not to be interpreted as indicators or predictors for any one individual, rather as a potential vulnerability that individuals and organizations need to be aware of and that needs to be reasonably managed, mitigated, and moderated.
It is equally important to not view supports to competence as guarantees to ensure competence, but as factors that develop, maintain, or reinforce an individual's knowledge, skills, or abilities, and that an individual and/or organization can monitor and act on.
Purpose: To explore the application of the epidemiological model with blinded PT registrant from 2 jurisdictions in Canada for consistency in the reported risks and supports to competence.
Methods: The registrant data for the 2 PT regulatory bodies (i.e. Alberta, Ontario) were separately analyzed then integrated. In all, 17 data bases, representing over 16,000 registrant records over 3 decades were analyzed.
Following coding, data sets for each jurisdiction were combined into a single database and analyzed. Simple statistics were calculated when appropriate. Cross-tabulations and Chi-Squared statistics were generated to compare the percentages of different categories of registrants with respect to the different assessment tools. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to determine relationships between continuous risk factor variables (e.g. exam score and age).
Results: Risks to competence identified in this study are congruent with the literature on risks to competence, which is predominantly written about physicians. The risks to competence for registrants that stand out the most strongly are: being an internationally educated physical therapist, being male, increasing age, and working at a higher number of worksites over one's career. There were some geographical variations noted. There are correlations among the variables studied, which provide support for the conclusions presented.
The current analysis does not suggest causation or offer specific solutions, though it does present the current understanding of the studied registrants.
Conclusion(s): Epidemiology is a useful to study risks to competence and supports to competence, and to focus the efforts of individuals, programs, and organizations.
PT regulatory and professional organizations would benefit from further work on risks to competence and supports to competence:
- Using common definitions for competence, risk, and supports in common with other health professional regulators and with others (e.g. PT regulators) that use risks-and-supports models.
- Gather data in a common and systematic way.
- Enhancing data collected to understand all known risks to PT competence (e.g. wellness).
- Exploring what supports mitigate or moderate risks to registrants' competence.
- Working with other health professional groups who are looking at risks and supports to competence, given the noted high degree of overlap in risks and supports found between the research that is dominated by physicians
Implications: Individual PTs would benefit from understanding their personal risks and what supports can moderate or mitigate their capacity for competent practice throughout their career. PT organizations should partner to support PT competence using an epidemiological approach.
Keywords: Competence, practice, epidemiology
Funding acknowledgements: The research about the PT data for each 2 regulatory college was funded by those organizations.
Topic: Education
Ethics approval required: No
Institution: University of Toronto
Ethics committee: Faculty of Medicine
Reason not required: Program evaluation research does not require ethics approval
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
