Date of Submission
8-8-2023
Document Type
OIP
Degree
Doctor of Education
Department
Education
Keywords
continuing competence, health profession regulation, critical theory, authentic leadership, appreciative inquiry, emergent change
Abstract
Continuing competence is the combination of knowledge, skills, abilities, and judgment of a professional, applied safely and ethically to their practice of the profession. Under the Health Professions Act in Alberta, health regulatory colleges must oversee the continuing competence of their registrants, ensuring they act in the public’s best interest. At Health Professionals Regulatory College (HPRC), over 3500 registrants are accountable to its continuing competence program (CCP). The current CCP, in place for over 15 years, has not integrated collection and analysis of diversity data that may influence individual competence, nor has it evolved with trends toward right-touch regulation that encourage data-informed, risk-based approaches to regulation. This organizational improvement plan (OIP) establishes the organizational context of HPRC within a structural-functional environment and applies critical theory to address the identified problem of practice (PoP)—the lack of a reflective and responsive CCP. A future CCP is envisioned to support ongoing practitioner learning, promote better practitioner-college relationships, increase confidence and status of the profession, and improve patient outcomes. Acknowledging that redevelopment of the CCP involves an emergent change process, the OIP focuses on rethinking the CCP as the first of three change cycles. Combined with an authentic leadership approach, appreciative inquiry is the selected change model to implement a strategy that balances top-down and bottom-up approaches, aiming to optimize stakeholder diversity and meaningful participation. Detailed plans for change implementation, communication, and monitoring and evaluation are outlined. The OIP concludes with thoughts on next steps for CCP redevelopment and future considerations for HPRC.
Recommended Citation
Thawer, S. (2023). Engaging Health Professionals Toward the Redevelopment of a Continuing Competence Program. The Organizational Improvement Plan at Western University, 353. Retrieved from https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/oip/353