Click here to view an EXAMPLE COMPETENCY PORTFOLIO
COMPETENCY DEFINITIONS
- The competent graduate listens attentively and communicates
clearly with patients, families, and health care team members.
- The graduate establishes the rapport necessary to form
and maintain a therapeutic relationship with the patient.
Level ONE Achievement (end of MS2):
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Students communicate effectively in informal written communications, such as descriptive reports.
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Students demonstrate competence in oral communications in one-on-one settings, such as with an individual patient or faculty member, or in small group settings such as seminars.
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In dealing with patients, students are expected only to follow prescribed elementary processes for the interview and write-up, such as one would find in a basic interviewing handbook.
Assessment Criteria:
- Effective listening that is: attentive, non-judgmental, patient, and maintains eye contact.
- Respect for patient as a person by: eliciting and respecting patients' values, exhibiting cultural sensitivity, communicating empathy, maintaining confidentiality, conforming to ethical guidelines.
- Effective use of speech in a clear, comprehensible, organized, and audience-appropriate manner.
- Effective use of written language by productively reading medical literature, understanding and appropriately using medical jargon and abbreviations, producing written communications that are legible, sensitive, clear, organized, succinct, and at an appropriate reading level.
- Effective use of computer technology: understanding and using word processing, and using bibliographic databases as a resource for research and problem solving.
- The competent graduate elicits and records a complete
and accurate history and performs a skillful examination appropriate to
a variety of patient encounters.
- The graduate correctly determines whether to perform
a comprehensive or suitably focused history and physical examination.
- The graduate also correctly selects, proficiently performs,
and accurately interprets selected clinical procedures and laboratory tests.
Level ONE Achievement (end of MS2):
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Students can elicit a complete medical history and perform a complete physical examination (H&PE) using proper technique.
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They understand how to organize and analyze collected data, though the quality of the history of the present illness and differential diagnosis will be limited by their knowledge of the pertinent diseases.
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Students have an introductory knowledge of routine clinical procedures and know proper techniques for performing these procedures. They have had some practice with these techniques, although they will not be expected to perform them without supervision.
Assessment Criteria:
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Can elicit and document an appropriate medical history for the clinical encounter, including:
- Comprehensive history - adult
- Comprehensive history - child
- Appropriate focused history
and
- Use of appropriate non-patient information when necessary
- Can perform and document a physical examination suitable to the clinical encounter, including:
- Comprehensive physical exam
- Mental status exam
- Pediatric physical exam
- Emergency-directed exam
and
- Choice of focused exam
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Can correctly perform the following routine procedures and knows about their indication, complications, and limitations:
- venipuncture, including blood cultures
- starting a peripheral IV
- basic CPR
- arterial puncture for blood gases
- emergent, temporary immobilization of cervical spine fractures
- control of gross external hemorrhage
- insertion of nasogastric tube
- work with sterile technique
- apply temporary/emergency splint
- universal precautions
- throat swab
- intradermal, sub-Q, IM, and IV injections
- placement of Foley catheters
- endotracheal tube placement
- complete ACLS
- fluorescein staining and eye examinations
- laceration suturing
- obtaining Pap smear samples
- The competent graduate knows and can explain the scientific
underpinnings, at the molecular, cellular, organ, whole body, and environmental
levels for states of health and disease based upon current understanding
and cutting-edge advances in contemporary basic science.
- The graduate uses this information to diagnose, manage
and prevent the common health problems of individuals, families, and communities
in collaboration with them.
- The graduate develops a problem list and different diagnosis,
carries out additional investigations, chooses and implements interventions
with consultation and referral as needed, determines outcome goals, recognizes
and utilizes opportunities for prevention, monitors progress, shares information
and educates, and adjusts therapy and diagnosis according to results.
Level ONE Achievement (end of MS2):
- Students demonstrate their knowledge of the relevant basic sciences through basic science course written examinations and by passing the USMLE Step 1.
- Students will meet the Criteria for Assessment for diagnosis, management, and prevention of the most prominent and common conditions in situations that require more general knowledge rather than specific medical expertise (Ex: discussing prevention of sexually-transmitted diseases with a group of adolescents).
- Students can identify general not specific approaches to management, and generally would not be expected to actually carry them out in real settings.
Assessment Criteria:
- Explains the differences between good health and states of ill health, applying the anatomical, biochemical, microbiologic, and pathophysiologic bases for these states at the molecular, cellular, organ, whole body, and environmental levels.
- Uses data from H&PEs and lab tests to formulate appropriate problem lists, and differential diagnoses.
- Proposes a general approach to further data gathering and specific diagnostic steps.
- Proposes a general therapeutic approach to a given disease or problem.
- Integrates preventive interventions into the comprehensive health care of individuals.
- Recognizes when particular situations may require use of special diagnostic skills, attitudes, and goals.
- Elucidates the limits of the scientific underpinnings guiding diagnosis, management, and prevention.
- The competent graduate is aware of the limits of his/her
personal knowledge and experience.
- The graduate actively sets and pursues clear learning
goals, exploits new opportunities for intellectual growth and professional
enlightenment, is capable of critical, reliable and valid self-assessment,
and applies the knowledge gained to the practice of his/her profession.
Level ONE Achievement (end of MS2):
- Students exhibit the following skills within structured settings, such as medical school courses: framing questions, utilizing modem information-searching modalities, organizing data, compiling and using information.
- Students demonstrate basic skills in self-assessment, including the ability to openly and critically evaluate verbally and in written form one's personal performance on a variety of clinical and academic tasks.
- Students recognize any problems in their learning, and seek assistance as necessary.
Assessment Criteria:
- Student recognizes personal limits of knowledge, experience; actively pursues information necessary to understand and solve diagnostic and therapeutic problems.
- Applies acquired knowledge effectively.
- Demonstrably identifies and analyzes relevant scientific/medical literature.
- The competent graduate approaches the practice of medicine
with awareness of his/her limits, strengths, weaknesses and personal vulnerabilities.
- The graduate assesses personal values and priorities
in order to develop and maintain an appropriate balance of personal and
professional commitments.
- The graduate seeks help and advice when needed for his/her
own difficulties and develops personally appropriate coping strategies.
- The graduate recognizes his/her effect on others in professional
contacts.
- The graduate seeks, accurately receives and appropriately
responds to performance feedback.
Level ONE Achievement (end of MS2):
Via guided self-reflection, students have explored their own beliefs, values, style and priorities, in preparation for professional activities.
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Students can identify common stressors and health risks for physicians.
- They can identify their own signs of and response to personal stress.
- They can demonstrate awareness of immediate and delayed techniques of stress reduction.
- Students can identify their interactive style and recognize its strengths and weaknesses in learning and group collegial settings.
- They have explored potential areas of weakness in both interpersonal interaction and self-development.
- They will be able to accurately receive feedback.
Assessment Criteria:
- Recognizes personal strengths and limitations relevant to his/her practice of medicine.
- Identifies and addresses emotional, personal, and health-related problems possibly affecting his/her health, well being, professional capabilities.
- Copes adaptively with stresses occurring during medical training and practice.
- Recognizes role of interpersonal interactions in professional and personal settings.
- Manages performance feedback as part of training and practice.
- Recognizes, states personal values and beliefs relevant to his/her practice of medicine
- The competent graduate recognizes the diverse factors that influence the health
of the individual and the community;
- The competent graduate identifies the sociocultural, familial, psychological,
economic, environmental, legal, political and spiritual factors impacting
health care and health care delivery;
- The competent graduate responds to these factors by planning and advocating
the appropriate course of action at both the individual and the community
level.
Level ONE Achievement (end of MS2):
- Students reflect on and acknowledge their own cultural and spiritual traditions, as well as gender, class and sexual socialization experiences. They can articulate ways that these factors influence their approach to medical practice.
- Students display nonjudgmental attitudes towards disparate value systems and beliefs.
- They explore the role of community services through site visits, discussions with staff and patients, and observation of the provision of services. (Students could act as health advocates by participating in community service activities, which improve the health and welfare of at-risk populations.)
Assessment Criteria:
- Recognizes many nonbiologic factors influencing health, disease, disability, and access to care.
- Utilizes community resources to promote health, prevent disease, and manage illness.
- Advocates for better health of patients and the community.
- The competent graduate recognizes the ethical issues of medical practice and
health policy
- The graduate identifies alternatives in difficult ethical choices
- The graduate analyzes systematically the conflicting considerations
supporting different alternatives
- The graduate and formulates, defends, and effectively carries out
a course of action that takes account of this ethical complexity.
- The graduate combines a willingness to recognize the nature
of the value systems of patients and others with commitment to his/her own
system and the ethical choices necessary to maintain his/her own ethical
integrity.
Level ONE Achievement (end of MS2):
- Students use ethical concepts, reasoning when reviewing model ethical cases.
- They recognize ethical issues in medical practice and identify most relevant ethical considerations.
Assessment Criteria:
- Understands basic ethical concepts and applies them in moral reasoning relevant to medicine/health care.
- Recognizes ethical dimensions of medicine.
- Identifies conflicting ethical concerns in a particular ethical choice.
- Systematically analyzes and defends ethical choices in the treatment of an individual patient.
- Determines, articulates, and analyzes the ethical issues in health policy.
- Determines, articulates, and analyzes the ethical issues in relations with other health care professionals.
- Identifies relevant case and statutory law bearing on ethical issues and choices; analyzes and defends positions about their roles in ethical choices.
- Demonstrates and employs skills necessary to implement ethical choices in medical practice.
- Effectively integrates the above ethical skills in the care of his/her own patients.
- Recognizes and effectively handles unethical behavior of other members of the health care team.
- The competent graduate recognizes and thoroughly characterizes
a problem.
- The graduate develops an informed plan of action.
- The graduate acts to resolve the problem.
- The graduate subsequently assesses the results of his/her actions.
Level ONE Achievement (end of MS2):
- Students have the knowledge base needed to understand and solve straightforward problems.
Assessment Criteria:
- Recognizes existence of problems; characterizes problems clearly and objectively.
- Examines problems from disparate viewpoints.
- Collects and integrates information necessary.
- Generates and analyzes potential solution set; formulates an informed action plan.
- Implements solutions and assesses their results.
- The competent graduate recognizes the powerful impact
of his/her professional attitudes and behavior on others and consistently
demonstrates the highest standards of excellence, duty, and accountability
to the patient.
- The competent graduate recognizes his/her role in working
collaboratively with others to meet the health care needs of the individual
and the community.
Level ONE Achievement (end of MS2):
- Students are responsible, reliable, and display integrity, honesty, courtesy, and self-discipline in classrooms and clinical settings.
- Students act professionally in their early clinical situations.
- They discern personal limitations and biases and find ways to overcome or adapt to them.
- Students empathize with patients and respect their rights and privacy.
- They know and rigorously adhere to the institution's policies and standard operating procedures.
- Students become aware of ethical and legal issues in medical practice.
- They articulate personal professionalism goals.
- They engage in the community of medicine and medical school.
Assessment Criteria:
- Behaves professionally.
- Effectively interacts with patients.
- Effectively interacts with entire health care team and other health and community professionals.
- Demonstrates leadership and motivation.
- Coordinate the management of the patient's problem.
- Mentor junior members of the health care team.
- Participate and lead in medical community affairs.
- Write various papers and reports, especially at level 3.
Indiana University School of Medicine - Terre Haute
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