CBVE Definitions & Relationships
Competency
An observable ability of a health professional related to a specific activity that integrates knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes. Since competencies are observable, they can be measured and assessed to ensure their acquisition.1
Domains of Competence
Broad distinguishable areas of competence that in the aggregate constitute a general descriptive framework for a profession.2
Competency framework
An organized and structured representation of a set of interrelated and purposeful competencies.3
EPA
An essential task of a discipline that a learner can be trusted to perform with limited supervision in a given context and considering regulatory requirements, once sufficient competence has been demonstrated. (As adapted from4)
Milestone
A defined, observable marker of an individual’s ability along a developmental continuum.4
Programmatic Assessment
An intentionally designed assessment system (formative and summative) in which the longitudinal development of learning is visible to the student as actionable feedback and which provides rich data for informed holistic decision making on progression.5
1. Frank, J.R., Snell, L.S., Ten Cate, O., et al. (2010) Competency-based medical education: Theory to practice. Medical Teacher, 32(8), 638-645.
2. Englander, R., Cameron, T., Ballard, A.J., et al. (2013) Toward a common taxonomy of competency domains for health professions and competencies for physicians. Academic Medicine, 88(8), 1-7.
3. Willet T. (2012) Performance framework definitions [Internet]. [cited 2012 Dec 5]. Available from: http://groups.medbiq.org/medbiq/display/CWG/Performance+Framework+-+Definitions.
4. Englander, R., Frank, J.R., Carracio, C., et al. (2017) Toward a shared language for competency-based education. Medical Teacher, 39(6), 582-587.
5. Van der Vleuten, C., Lindemann I., and Schmidt L. (2018) Programmatic assessment: the process, rationale and evidence for modern evaluation approaches in medical education. Med J Aust. 2018 Nov 5;209(9):386-388.