A Novel Framework for Developing Milestones to Measure Competency Across Physical Therapy Education

Competency-based education (CBE) has gained widespread acceptance as an effective approach for preparing learners to meet societal health needs. At the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Pediatrics Education Summit III, several work groups were formed to develop resources supporting CBE implementation in physical therapy. This study aims to present the work of 1 group to explore the development of educational milestones for a physical therapy curricula framework.

The educational milestone work group conducted a focused literature review to identify theories, models, and frameworks related to CBE and milestone development across health care professions. Through an iterative, multi-stage, and consensus-driven process, the group defined stages of knowledge and skill acquisition and learner performance descriptors. Feedback was solicited from a CBE expert advisory panel, and the framework was subsequently reviewed and refined based on the panel's input.

The work group developed an educational milestone framework, defining 6 stages of learners' developmental progression across the physical therapist learner continuum: professional through post-professional. Building on these stages, the group identified 10 descriptors that can be used to describe milestones of learner performance, including knowledge, skills, and attitudes for specific competence and associated competencies.

This novel framework offers 1 approach to developing milestones that describe learner performance. It identifies and describes developmental stages to track learner progression and descriptors that can serve as a resource for physical therapy educators as they work to describe milestones for competence across professional and post-professional physical therapist education.