title: Defining competency-based evaluation objectives in family medicine: key-feature approach.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop key features for priority topics previously identified by the College of Family Physicians of Canada that, together with skill dimensions and phases of the clinical encounter, broadly describe competence in family medicine.
  
  
  METHODS
  Modified nominal group methodology, which was used to develop key features for each priority topic through an iterative process.
  
  
  METHODS
  The College of Family Physicians of Canada.
  
  
  METHODS
  An expert group of 7 family physicians and 1 educational consultant, all of whom had experience in assessing competence in family medicine. Group members represented the Canadian family medicine context with respect to region, sex, language, community type, and experience.
  
  
  METHODS
  The group used a modified Delphi process to derive a detailed operational definition of competence, using multiple iterations until consensus was achieved for the items under discussion. The group met 3 to 4 times a year from 2000 to 2007.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The group analyzed 99 topics and generated 773 key features. There were 2 to 20 (average 7.8) key features per topic; 63% of the key features focused on the diagnostic phase of the clinical encounter.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This project expands previous descriptions of the process of generating key features for assessment, and removes this process from the context of written examinations. A key-features analysis of topics focuses on higher-order cognitive processes of clinical competence. The project did not define all the skill dimensions of competence to the same degree, but it clearly identified those requiring further definition. This work generates part of a discipline-specific, competency-based definition of family medicine for assessment purposes. It limits the domain for assessment purposes, which is an advantage for the teaching and assessment of learners. A validation study on the content of this work would ensure that it truly reflects competence in family medicine.
authors: Department of Family Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Regina, Canada. k.lawrence@sasktel.net
authors: Kathrine
authors: K
authors: Lawrence
authors: Tim
authors: T
authors: Allen
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Brailovsky
authors: Tom
authors: T
authors: Crichton
authors: Cheri
authors: C
authors: Bethune
authors: Michel
authors: M
authors: Donoff
authors: Tom
authors: T
authors: Laughlin
authors: Stephen
authors: S
authors: Wetmore
authors: Marie-Pierre
authors: MP
authors: Carpentier
authors: Shaun
authors: S
authors: Visser
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D002568:Certification / Q000592:standards*; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D003697:Delphi Technique; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods; D005194:Family Practice / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000592:standards*; D012189:Retrospective Studies