Towards a generic competency framework for all primary care professionals: a qualitative research protocol

A strong primary care is key to a high-quality healthcare system. Due to challenges in primary care, competent professionals, whose competencies are aligned with the needs of practice, are needed. To our knowledge, a generic transdisciplinary competency framework encompassing all primary care professionals across different disciplines is currently lacking. Competency frameworks and Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) are a way to capture competencies. EPAs describe the activities that professionals are expected to perform and form a bridge between competency frameworks and clinical practice. By identifying professional activities, our objective is to develop and validate a generic transdisciplinary competency framework applicable to all primary care professionals.

This research protocol follow a qualitative research design and describes three phases: (1) a scoping review, (2) an ethnographic study that aims to develop a competency framework, and (3) a validation study in practice. A combination of literature review, interviews, focus groups, observations, and expert consultations will be used to ensure data triangulation. Qualitative data will be collected from primary care professionals, experts, patients and informal caregivers in Flanders, Belgium.

A transdisciplinary competency framework for all primary care professional has the potential to contribute to a stronger sense of professional identity, by providing a cohesive set of competencies that define their roles and responsibilities. These findings could inform continuous professional development for primary care professionals and educational development for undergraduate health and welfare students to be better prepared for practice in primary care.

This study is approved by the ethical committee of Ghent University Hospital with number: ONZ-2024-0288. Each participant will need to sign an informed consent to be eligible to participate.