Continuing competency for health professionals: caveat emptor

Continuing competency presents a challenge for professionals in the environmental health field and other public heath disciplines. It is argued that traditional continuing professional education alone is inadequate and other alternatives need to be developed which are complementary. Issues and concerns related to mandatory vs. voluntary continuing professional education are discussed. Communities of interest in the process are described which include practitioners, employers, faculty and consumers, each of whom contribute to a definition of competence. A format for increasing interaction among these communities and a credentialing--continuing competency model is presented. The model addresses the notion that obtaining and maintaining competency is an on-going dynamic process.