Competency Models in Graduate Healthcare Management Education: Analysis of Current Practices and Recommendations for Getting to Best Practices

摘要

In the interest of supporting dialogue about the use of competency models in graduate healthcare management education programs, I was invited by the special issue editor to conduct a survey of current practices in the field. This analysis was made possible in large part because theseprograms are required, as a condition of accreditation, to provide public access to the models their programs adopt. As such most models are available via program websites. To provide context, I open the paper with a brief overview of the history and science of competency modeling as practicedby the profession of industrial/organizational psychology, as well as our current best-practice guidelines. I then describe the CAHME guidelines, as well as the types and characteristics of competency models currently being used by CAHME-accredited programs, in the context of these best-practicedefinitions. I also provide a synthesis of these models that was completed with the assistance of a natural language processing program. I conclude the paper with a summary of some of the challenges I believe that healthcare management faces in its use of competency models and recommendationsfor the future.