Development and validation of educational competencies Required for anesthesia technologists: A developmental study.

Abstract

Background: Competency-based approach is the dominant approach in curriculum planning. Despite the use of the competency approach in other fields related to the healthcare system in various countries and also in some fields in Iran, the undergraduate curriculum of Anesthesia Technology in Iran is predominantly presented traditionally (goal-oriented). Since obtaining competency for Anesthesia Technologists is important, this study aimed to determine the required educational competencies for them.

Materials and methods: This quantitative developmental study was conducted in 2022-2023 in three general stages: determining competencies through literature reviews, conducting a group session with experts in the field of anesthesia and developing an initial questionnaire, and then examining the validity and reliability of the initial questionnaire by experts and finalizing the competencies. The validity of the questionnaire was assessed using CVR and CVI, and the reliability was calculated through Intra-class Correlation Coefficient (ICC) and Cronbach's alpha.

Results: 61 competencies were classified into five domains: "ethics and professionalism," "collaboration and communication," "evidence-based practice and professional learning," "safety and risk management," and "technical competencies." The questionnaire had sufficient face and content validity, and its reliability was calculated using an ICC of 0.997 and Cronbach's alpha of 0.992.

Discussion: Developing a competency-based curriculum is feasible by developing a competency framework, and this study is the first step towards creating a competency-based curriculum by developing a reliable and valid competency framework.