Investigating the factors affecting the competence of a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner using structural equation model

BACKGROUND: Compared with other medical sciences, Chinese medicine provides professional advantages in disease prevention and the diagnosis of chronic diseases. The training of Chinese medicine practitioners is worthy of investigation. The present study focused on how structural equation modelling (SEM) can be used to analyze the competencies of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners to help training an eligible TCM doctor and select suitable staff for TCM hospital. METHODS: Before the analysis of competence factors for TCM, we developed the scale, including literature review, expert consultation, item pool for the proposed competency model, pilot test of the item pool, and finalization of the scale items. We analyzed questionnaires from 400 TCM practitioners in Hangzhou, Guangzhou, and Wuhan, and then performed an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to extract the valuable items for TCM practitioners. Finally, SEM was employed to develop a competency structure. RESULTS: A total of 21 items in this study’s questionnaire were identified as being closely related to the competencies of TCM practitioners, which were further categorized by principal component analysis into five categories: (I) professional values; (II) basic medical knowledge; (III) communication skills; (IV) clinical skills; and (V) information management. Subsequent analyzes showed that clinical skills were the most important competency metric for TCM practitioners; additionally, the mediating role of basic medical knowledge and communication skills could not be ignored in both theory and practice. CONCLUSIONS: This research presents a preliminary methodology for evaluating the competence of TCM practitioners and provides hospitals with criteria theoretical reference for training and finding TCM practitioners.