Competency Corner, Part Two: Canadian Optometric Competency-Based Performance Standards

Abstract

The first article in this series introduced the Competence Committee’s task of describing safe and effective optometric practice in Canada. In seeking to describe competence the Committee wanted to avoid breaking the responsibilities of the profession down into numerous, simple tasks. Instead, an evidence-based approach was used to further describe the professional competencies in terms of competency elements, performance criteria and performance indicators. Workshops with practising optometrists from across Canada provided the practical experience necessary to ensure that the resulting Competency-Based Performance Standards (CBPS) are a complete description of optometry practice in Canada.