Contemplating the future of competency assessment

Abstract

Early theories of job performance stated that one's professional performance is principally based on one's job knowledge, which in turn largely depends on cognitive ability.1We have long since moved towards more complex competency modelling to understand professional performance. That transformation, however, immediately introduced a definition problem by inducing on going debate about what a competency is. In this commentary, we will discuss two competing models of competency that might help further frame the complexity of competency-based assessment: universalist and particularist. We will also examine the implications of these models for health professional education and practice.