Analytical definition of the concept of "competency" through McKenna approach

Nowadays, competency based education has been highly regarded by the experts in the field of medical education and most of the curriculums has changed accordingly. Despite the importance of the subject and the use of this term in educational literature, there is no consensus on its practical and theoretical definition. Therefore, due to the lack of transparency of the concept and the fact that there is no definite distinction between this concept and similar concepts and its adjacency, this study was conducted with the aim of presenting the analytical definition of "competency” through the McKenna approach. This concept analysis was performed by implementing McKenna’s nine-step approach. After extensive search in scientific databases with Specific strategies, 52 documents were studied and the defining attributes of the concept extracted and then analytical definition were presented. Based on the literature review, four conceptual areas including: competency goals, competency components, competency characteristics and competency development were extracted. Model, contrary, related, invented, and illegitimate cases are presented and Empirical indicators were also determined. Based on the findings of the study, the definition of “competency”is the ability to perform an activity that is include of knowledge (applied codified knowledge and tacit knowledge), skills(technical and cognitive) and perceptual ability, This ability is habitual,endurable, task-relevant, observable and measurable, independent, knowledge-based, and context dependent and is considered as the main part of the job; Explaining competencies leads to the establishment of excellent performance criteria and It is a framework for performance-based learning for the relatedjob. It can be the basis for providing a certificate of competency and strengthening social accountability too. Competencies are developed through supervised teaching and training as well as reflective authentic experience.