Article Sidebar
Published:
Apr 28, 2021Article Details
Copyright remains in the Author’s name. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial Works License. Authors are required to complete and sign an Author Agreement form that outlines Author and Publisher rights and terms of publication. The Agreement form should be uploaded along with other submissions files and any submission will be considered incomplete without it [forthcoming].
Material submitted for publication in the AJHPE is accepted provided it has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Please inform the editorial team if the main findings of your paper have been presented at a conference and published in abstract form, to avoid copyright infringement. The AJHPE does not hold itself responsible for statements made by the authors. The corresponding author should also indicate if the research forms part of a postgraduate short report, dissertation or thesis.
Previously published images
If an image/figure has been previously published, permission to reproduce or alter it must be obtained by the authors from the original publisher and the figure legend must give full credit to the original source. This credit should be accompanied by a letter indicating that permission to reproduce the image has been granted to the author/s. This letter should be uploaded as a supplementary file during submission.Main Article Content
Teaching communication as a core competency in health professions education: An exploratory case study in a college of health sciences, South Africa
Abstract
Background. Competency-based and interprofessional education are increasingly favoured approaches for training health professionals (HPs) to meet patient and population needs. The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) and College of Health Sciences (CHS) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, SA, specified a requirement for a core competencies framework to be incorporated into all HP programmes in 2014.
Objectives. To explore teaching, learning and assessment of communication as a core competency in eight HP programmes in the CHS to determine how communication was taught and whether the competencies framework had been adopted successfully. The study is important, as there has been limited research on the teaching of communication as a competency in HP education in SA.
Methods. The case study comprised educational qualitative research. The CHS document was reviewed and purposive sampling was used to select educators from the programmes. Focus group discussions were conducted in July and August 2015 with 5 - 9 participants per group. Data were analysed thematically and themes and subthemes described. Gatekeeper and ethical permissions were obtained.
Results. Aspects of communication were taught in all programmes. None of the programmes had fully incorporated the CHS framework. The medicine programme had incorporated aspects of the framework in teaching, although it did not reflect consistently in all disciplines. Teaching was largely profession or discipline specific. Important challenges were language barriers and interprofessional communication.
Conclusions. While the consistent use of the CHS core competencies framework may contribute to improving the teaching of communication in the HP programmes, the success of a competency-based approach depends on responsiveness to context. Research in local settings is recommended to identify and align competencies and content with patient and community needs.
