Quality Assurance and Maintenance of Competence Assessment Mechanisms in the Professions: A Multi-Jurisdictional, Multi-Professional Review

Abstract

Regulatory bodies of health and non-health professions around the world have developed a diverse array of mechanisms to ensure maintenance of competence of practitioners. Quality assurance of professionals’ practices is crucial to the work of regulators, yet there are few examples of interprofessional or cross-jurisdictional comparisons of approaches and mechanisms used to achieve this important objective. This review was undertaken using an indicative sampling method: to control for local cultural factors, all regulated health- and non-health professions in a single jurisdiction (Ontario, Canada) were studied, while intra-jurisdictional comparison was facilitated through targeted study of large professions (such as medicine, pharmacy and teaching) in other English-language jurisdictions (such as California, USA; the United Kingdom and Australia). A total of 91 regulated professions were examined to identify trends, commonalities and differences related to approaches used for professional quality assurance and maintenance of competence assessment. A diverse array of approaches was identified, highlighting divergent approaches to defining and measuring competency in the professions. Further comparative work examining this issue is required to help identify best- and promising-practices that can be shared among regulators from different jurisdictions and professions.