Competencies for undergraduate community-based education for the health professions--a systematic review.
BACKGROUND
Community-based education (CBE) along with competency approach is increasingly becoming popular. However, there appears to be lack of evidence on CBE competencies for undergraduate curriculum, therefore this systematic review attempted to identify and categorize CBE competencies to determine the ones used frequently.


OBJECTIVE
The systematic review aimed at identifying and categorizing CBE competencies implemented in nursing and medical schools to inform all stakeholders of health professional's education.


METHODS
A systematic review of electronic databases including MEDLINE, CINAHL, and ERIC and manual search of four medical education journals was carried out. Search was restricted to original research, published in English language between January 2000 and December 2009.


RESULTS
Nineteen studies fulfilled the search criteria. The competencies identified were categorized under six themes: Public Health; Cultural Competence; Leadership and Management; Community Development; Research; and Generic Competencies. Moreover, a number of clinical competencies were also found to be overlapping with CBE.


CONCLUSIONS
The literature on CBE competencies is limited in number and in its geographical span as most of the studies found was from developed countries; to expand the efforts to other institutions and countries, core competencies for CBE must be recognized and disseminated widely for its integration in health professionals' curriculum.
Shifa College of Nursing, Islamabad, Pakistan. zladhani@yahoo.com
Zahra
Z
Ladhani
Albert J J A
AJ
Scherpbier
Fred C J
FC
Stevens
D002983:Clinical Competence; D054521:Cultural Competency; D003479:Curriculum; D003657:Decision Making; D004522:Educational Status; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D011634:Public Health / Q000193:education; D012111:Residence Characteristics