Establishing criteria for competency-based education

Requisite to the development of competency-based curricula in the medical laboratory sciences is the translation of competency statements into terminal performance objectives so that the achievement of career-entry competence can be measured. To truly represent competence in practice, the conditions and standards of acceptable performance for the objectives must be those expected of career-entry practitioners on their jobs. A method is presented for the establishment of conditions under which the behaviors specified in competency statements are carried out in the "real world" of medical laboratory practice and the verification of standards of accuracy and speed in performance that represent competence at career entry. The career-entry practitioner is defined as the graduate of a medical laboratory education program who has been working in the field for six months to one year. The specification of that target group for verification of career-entry competence is explained. The necessity for use of the clinical laboratory for evaluation of career-entry competence of students prior to graduation through acheivement of terminal performance objectives is stressed.