From continuing education to continuing competence.

Abstract

A primary function of continuing education is to facilitate growth and evolution of the individual doing the learning. The measurement and demonstration of such learning may be difficult. Requirements by licensing jurisdictions that a specific number of hours of continuing education be obtained can put the focus on quantity of education, not necessarily quality, relevance to the individual, or the demonstration of learning and increased competence due to the educational experience. Measuring competence gained from a specific event (e.g., a workshop) may not be the ideal way to assess the impact of continuing education on professional development. Current trends in the profession point toward demonstration of competence by the individual, as opposed to measuring the impact of an event. It is ultimately the individual engaged in practice who must demonstrate that learning has occurred and competence maintained or increased. The role of specialty board certification as a means of demonstrating competence and the development of models for documenting maintenance of competence are valuable to the individual psychologist, the profession, and the public. Public Significance StatementThis article describes current and future directions with respect to the assessment of competence of licensed psychologists with a focus on opportunities to create a mechanism to directly assess continuing competence.

Standards for professional psychology continuing education sponsors: A comparative analysis of health service professions.

“…To better safeguard the public, there have been recent calls for continuing education trainings to emphasize the attainment and ongoing assessment of competency in the practices promoted (Cox & Grus, 2019; Grus & Rozensky, 2019). At present, however, the APA standards do not require in-person continuing education trainings to even assess for gains in knowledge, much less competency, in the delivery of evidence-based practices (Babeva & Davison, 2015).…”

Aprendizagem E Desenvolvimento Em Formação Continuada Em Psicologia E Psicoterapia Antroposófica

“…Encontram-se vários estudos a partir da American Psychological Association (APA) e de pesquisadores relacionados ao acompanhamento da educação continuada, desenvolvimento profissional, formação continuada e suas associações ATTEBURY, 2017;GRUS, 2019;GUSTAVSSON;FEJES, 2018;FENDER, 2018;LINDSAY, 2016;NEIMEYER et al, 2014 NEIMEYER;NYSTRÖM et al, 2017;ROSSEN et al, 2019;SELVI;BALDAN;ALAGÖZ, 2016;TAYLOR et al, 2019).…”

Continuing education in professional psychology: Exploring the translation of learning into practice.

“…The fact that all 50 states and the District of Columbia have CE mandates in support of license renewal for professional psychologists, stands testament to the importance they ascribe to CE, as well as the reliance they place on the training and education it furnishes, and the accountability it provides (Rodolfa et al, 2010; Rothke et al, 2020; see also Taylor et al, 2019). Although CE is now required for licensed psychologists throughout the U.S., the field’s well-documented reluctance to embrace universal mandates stood as a longstanding testament to the absence of compelling empirical evidence regarding the impact of CE in relation to accomplishing its stipulated objectives (Cox & Grus, 2019; Grus & Rozensky, 2019; Hellkamp et al, 1989; Lewinsohn & Pearlman, 1972; Neimeyer & Taylor, 2014; Rossen et al, 2019; Taylor et al, 2019; Washburn et al, 2019). Recent evidence has begun to remediate this deficiency, demonstrating a range of positive outcomes associated with CE (Bradley et al, 2012; Horn et al, 2019; Neimeyer, Taylor, & Cox, 2012).…”