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Table 2 Common and emphasised anaesthesiology training competencies in EU, US and Canadian repositories

From: First steps towards international competency goals for residency training: a qualitative comparison of 3 regional standards in anesthesiology

Competencies equally represented for ETR, Milestones, CBD

Perioperative medicine, patient assessment, management plan, preparation, and risk reduction (Can.TTD1, Can.F1, Can.C1, Can.TTP1, E.1.1, US.PC1)

Perioperative anaesthetic plan, management, conduct, and monitoring (Can.TTD2, Can.F2, E.1.2, US.PC2)

Peri-procedural multimodal acute pain management, transfer of care, and postoperative orders (Can.TTD3, Can.C19, E.1.5, US.PC3, US.PC7)

Regional anaesthesia (Can.C11, E.1.4, US.PC10)

Assessing, diagnosing and managing critically ill patients in acute care settings (Can.F9, Can.F10, Can.C21, E.1.6, US.PC6)

Airway management (Can.F4, Can.C4, E.1.3, US.PC8) – absence of extubation in US

Assessing, diagnosing and managing chronic pain (Can.C20, E.2.5, US.PC7)

Education, Self-directed Learning, Research (Can.TTP5, E.1.11, US.PBLI3)

Honesty, integrity, and ethical behaviour (Can.C25, E.1.9, US.P2)

Competencies equally represented for CBD and ETR

Competencies equally represented for CBD and Milestones

Competencies equally represented for ETR and Milestones

Obstetric anaesthesia and care; including providing labour analgesia, anaesthesia for caesarean, management of complications, management of high-risk parturient, and resuscitation of unstable parturient (Can.F12, Can.F13, Can.C7, Can.C8, Can.TTP4, E.2.1)

Paediatric anaesthesia; including providing perioperative anaesthetic management, management of common complications (Can.F14, Can.F15, Can.F16, Can.C10, E.2.4)

Providing anaesthetic management for patients undergoing procedures outside the usual environment of the operating room (Can.C13, E.1.2)

Providing perioperative management for patients requiring shared airway procedures (Can.C14, E.1.2)

Providing perioperative anaesthetic management for patients undergoing intracranial procedures (Can.C17, E.2.3)

Providing perioperative anaesthetic management for patients undergoing thoracic surgery (CanC.18, E.2.2)

Resuscitation for unstable patients, outside of the operating room or PACU (Can.C22, E.1.7)

Initiating and leading resuscitation for unstable patients in the perioperative period (Can.C5, E.1.6)

Anticipating, preventing, diagnosing and managing common or expected peri-anaesthetic complications (Can.F6, Can.F8, US.PC4)

Communication with patients and families (Can.C23, US.ICS1)

Responsibility to patients, families, and society (E.1.9, US.P1)

Patient Safety and Quality Improvement (E.1.10, US.SBP2)

Competencies emphasized in CBD

Competencies emphasized in ETR

Competencies emphasized in Milestones

Managing and coordinating patient positioning during anaesthesia care and preventing and recognizing related complications (Can.F5)

Assessing the indications for transfusion of blood products and managing side effects and complications (Can.F7)

Providing anaesthetic management for patients with defined critical illness (Can.C3)

Assessing, investigating, optimizing and formulating anaesthetic plans for more complex paediatric cases (Can.C9)

Diagnosing and providing management for patients with complications of regional anaesthesia (Can.C12)

Providing care for patients who have experienced a patient safety incident (Can.C24)

Performing the non-airway basic procedures of anaesthesiology (Can.F3)

Assessing pregnant patients and providing routine obstetric care or initial medical management for acute medical, surgical or obstetric conditions (Can.F11)

Providing anaesthetic management for patients with defined critical illness (Can.C2)

Demonstrating required skills in POCUS (point of care ultrasound) to answer a clinical question. (Can.C6)

Providing perioperative management for patients requiring airway diagnostic and therapeutic procedures (Can.C15)

Providing perioperative anaesthetic management for patients undergoing spinal procedures (Can.C16)

Managing all aspects of anaesthesia care for a scheduled day list (Can.TTP2)

Providing anaesthesia services for an on-call period (Can.TTP3)

Anaesthesia Non-Technical Skills (E.1.8)

Crisis management (US.PC5)

Technical skills: Use and Interpretation of Monitoring and Equipment (US.PC9)

Knowledge of biomedical, clinical, epidemiological, and social-behavioural sciences as outlined in the American Board of Anesthesiology Content Outline (US.MK1)

Coordination of patient care within the health care system (US.SBP1)

Team and leadership skills (US.ICS3)

Incorporation of quality improvement and patient safety initiatives into personal practice (US.PBLI1)

Analysis of practice to identify areas in need of improvement (US.PBLI2)

Education of patient, families, students, residents, and other health professionals (US.PBLI4)

Commitment to institution, department, and colleagues (US.P3)

Receiving and giving feedback (US.P4)

Responsibility to maintain personal emotional, physical, and mental health (US.P5)

Communication with other professionals (US.ICS2)

  1. Can Canada, EPA Entrustable Professional Activity, TTD Transition to Discipline EPA, F Foundation EPA, C Core EPA, TTP Transition to Practice EPA, E Europe, US United-States, PC Patient Care, MK Medical Knowledge, SBP Systems-based Practice, PBLI Practiced-based Learning and Improvement, P Professionalism, ICS Interpersonal and Communications Skills
  2. Summarizes competencies common to the three repositories (EU, US and Canada), to two repositories (EU and Canada; US and Canada; or EU and US), or rather specific to one repository (EU, US or Canada). The EU repository is the European Training Requirement (ETR), the US repository is the ACGME Milestones (Milestones), and the Canadian repository is the Competence by Design (CBD). Expressions are in percentage of their repository according to perspectives from (a) ETR, (b) Milestones, and (c) CBD.
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BMC Medical Education

ISSN: 1472-6920

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