Twelve tips for bringing competencies into continuing professional development: Curriculum mapping

There is a growing worldwide awareness in the field of health professions education and research that a successful implementation of competency-based medical education (CBME) requires embracing all stages of professional development (from undergraduate, through residency to continuing education). However, despite increased levels of cognizance and even enthusiasm about the importance of the entire continuum for the ultimate goal of improved healthcare, much work still remains as CBME principles are not widely adopted in continuing professional development (CPD). Much has been written about the process of competency-based curriculum development (e.g., the formation and development of meaningful and measurable outcomes) in undergraduate studies and postgraduate training, but not in CPD. If we expect a CPD curriculum to integrate CBME, competencies must be developed and clearly specified how they will fit into a coherent and implementable curriculum structure. In this article, we describe existing practices some educational institutions have, including our experiences in the Office of CPD at the University of Ottawa, Canada, in designing a competency-based curriculum and provide 12 tips for those who begin their journey of organizing, developing, and implementing such curricula. We conclude that in order to translate a competency-based approach into CPD, educational programs will have to refine curricula across health professionals' education using curriculum mapping as an important tool of curriculum development and evaluation.