Leading from Behind: An Educational Intervention to Address Faculty and Learner Preparedness for Competence By Design in Psychiatry

PURPOSE: Residency training programs across Canada are beginning to implement the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada’s new Competence By Design (CBD) framework in medical education. The objective of the current research was to assess faculty members’ and learners’ understanding of, and preparedness for, the national shift to CBD in psychiatry before and after an educational intervention. METHODS: The current research implemented a pre-test/post-test design to investigate faculty members’ and learners’ perceptions and attitudes towards competency-based medical education (CBME) and CBD before and after a one-hour educational session delivered by an expert on CBME. RESULTS: Of the 104 session attendees, 83 (79.8%) completed the pre-survey and 80 (76.9%) completed the post-survey. Both groups reported a moderate level of baseline knowledge of CBME and CBD. Knowledge of CBME improved significantly for both faculty members (p = 0.03) and learners (p < 0.01) after the education session; however, only learners showed a significant increase in knowledge of the CBD framework following the education session (p < 0.01). Further, only learners demonstrated a significant increase in perceived preparedness for CBD following the session (p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: Overall, a brief, one-hour education session was at least somewhat effective at improving knowledge and preparedness for psychiatry’s transition to CBD. In order to facilitate the transition to CBD and to assist in the rollout of future policy changes, psychiatry departments should provide both faculty members and learners with educational sessions and resources prior to the policy implementation.