How Implementing a Competency-Based Education (CBE) Teaching Model Can Help Bridge the Skills Gap

Today, 40% of employers report that newly graduated healthcare workers lack the necessary skills to perform their roles adequately. Despite excelling academically, too many individuals cannot put their theoretical knowledge into practice.

Competency-based education (CBE), which promotes knowledge retention alongside skills development, can help address this troubling skills gap. And more institutions realize it. Between 2012 and 2015, CBE programs in the U.S. ballooned from 20 to more than 500. Today, that number is 1,000, and it’s only expected to grow.

In this blog, the first in a two-part series, we’ll explore why the competency-based education teaching model is becoming the preferred instructional method of more Health Sciences instructors and provide guidance for implementing your own program.  

How Competency-Based Education Addresses the Skills Gap 

Whereas traditional education focuses on imparting theoretical knowledge through lectures, textbooks and exams, competency-based education places a greater emphasis on skills proficiency. In this format, learners are encouraged to put theoretical knowledge to use in real-world scenarios and settings. This way, they also gain practical knowledge and the confidence that they can perform the roles they aspire to.  

The Benefits of Competency-Based Education  

Traditional education is rigid by nature with courses progressing down a standardized path and timeline and culminating in one standard assessment. On the other hand, competency-based education takes a much more individualized, learner-centric approach and offers a wealth of benefits including:  

• Flexibility, Feedback and Perspective: Learners advance after they demonstrate competence rather than spending a certain amount of time in class. In this model, someone who is struggling with one concept can spend more time on it, while another student who’s already mastered it, can move on. As they progress at their own pace, both will receive individualized instructor feedback, allowing them to make targeted adjustments as they go. With CBE, learners realize that mistakes are part of the process. Rather than being penalized for getting something “wrong,” they gain valuable lessons that can help them solve problems and make better future decisions. 
  

• The Opportunity for Experiential Learning: The competency-based education model enhances theoretical knowledge by aligning it with practical skills application through professional observations, performance evaluations and practical exams based on industry standards. This allows learners to focus on and practice competencies with real-world relevance. By gaining professional insights and experience — and having to prove their own proficiency — CBE learners are more likely to be job-ready.  
  

• Supports Diverse Learning Styles and Experiences: Again, because emphasis is placed on proven competence rather than attendance hours, competency-based education allows learners to study and practice how and when it suits them. The model is ideal for non-traditional students. For instance, individuals whose studies were interrupted, perhaps to work or raise children, can pick up where they left off and progress quickly rather than begin at square one and be beholden to a rigid timeline. 
  

• Promotes Multi-Competency: CBE learners gain proficiency in skills that apply to different areas, making it easier for them to stack credentials, change specialties or upskill quickly. A win-win situation, this provides more value to future employers and helps learners realize more opportunity throughout their career. 
  

• A More Confident and Resilient Workforce: Since learners only progress after they’ve proven skill mastery, they possess the confidence to know they can perform in real-world scenarios from day one.  

How to Move to a Competency-Based Education Teaching Model  

 
Transitioning to a competency-based education teaching model requires careful planning. From identifying competencies based on industry standards and job-task analyses to assisting in program development to providing assessments that ensure proficiency, a partner like NHA can guide instructors along every step of the implementation journey. Together, we determine and create: 

1. Desired Program Outcomes 
2. Desired Learner Outcomes 
3. Appropriate Instructional Support Materials 
4. Formative Assessments 
5. Summative Assessments 
6. An Effective Instructional Plan 

 
Proven Instructional Tools and Methods  

NHA empowers instructors to leverage the full potential of the competency-based education teaching model by taking a comprehensive approach that includes a variety of tools and methods including:  

• Structured Learning Modules: Each module focuses on competencies required for effective practice in healthcare settings, ensuring targeted, thorough, right-sized learning. 
  

• Immersive Simulations: NHA courses feature realistic, scenario-based simulations that allow learners to practice and refine skills in a safe, controlled environment, enhancing their readiness for real-world challenges. 
  

• Skills Competency Checklists: Checklists provide learners and instructors with clear benchmarks for skill attainment, ensuring all necessary competencies are mastered before advancing. 
  

• Practice Assessments and Quizzes: Regular quizzes assess a learner’s ongoing understanding, while practice assessments help them gain proficiency as they progress. Rather than waiting until the end to gauge ability, this steady build ensures learners are on the right track and encourages them to proactively address any weaknesses. 
  

This mix of scenario-based learning, active-learning templates, skills-competency checklists and critical-thinking activities instills confidence and empowers different types of learners to excel.  

From Simple to Complex: A Scaffolded Approach to Skills Mastery 

Much like how proficiency is achieved in the real world, NHA’s competency-based education approach supports each learner’s development from foundational to advanced competency by building knowledge and skills from the ground up. NHA views the process in five distinct stages:  

• Discovery Stage: Learners are introduced to basic concepts like what careers and opportunities are available to them in healthcare, different settings they might practice in, interdisciplinary team dynamics and more.
  

• Beginning Stage: At this point, learners are ready to develop core skills and knowledge that are essential for further learning; for instance, medical terminology, anatomy and physiology and pharmacy calculations. 
  

• Developing Stage: This is when learners are introduced to more complex clinical and administrative skills.
  

• Becoming Stage: Ready to apply their newfound knowledge and skills, this stage gives learners the chance to engage in real-world practice through externships, clinical placements and immersive simulations.  
   

• Earned Certification Stage: This certifies mastery of competencies and marks a learner’s readiness for professional practice.  

Throughout these stages, NHA resources like MA SkillsBuilder™: Clinical and Administrative, PersonAbility, Principles of Health Coaching and TEAM Based Care help learners develop increasingly complex interpersonal skills to deliver exceptional care and build strong patient-provider relationships as professionals.  

NHA Certifications and CBE Resources in the Real World  

Support personnel are the backbone of the healthcare industry, but the demand for many roles far exceeds the supply. As an example, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there will be nearly 115,000 medical assistant (MA) openings per year for the next decade. 

As the industry struggles to train and retain competent MAs and traditional education pathways fail to deliver enough new candidates, Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAP) are gaining in popularity. Designed to help blunt the workforce shortage and ease the transition from student to professional, IRAPs appear to be a promising solution.  

Dallas College, which is at the forefront of the IRAP movement, partnered with NHA to provide on-the-job, competency-based training that helps MA candidates master essential skills and earn an industry-relevant certification from NHA with efficiency.  

“Nationally recognized, career-long portability is essential for medical assistants, and NHA has proven that by awarding over a million certifications,” said Krista Watkins, Director of National Partnerships and Innovation at Dallas College. “The rigor, study tools and well-known credentials have helped us gain interest with employers and employees alike. They can see it’s a well-designed program built for results.”  

As of now, Dallas College oversees IRAPs for 10 health systems nationwide and has attracted more than 200 participants, helping to fill urgent staffing needs.  

“It’s been great to work with these organizations and see the positive results in a relatively short amount of time,” Watkins said.  

The partnership between Dallas College and NHA is a testament to the power of combining academic rigor and practical application, the hallmark of competency-based education.  

Are You Ready to Embrace Competency-Based Education? 

As they continue to grapple with workforce shortages, more employers are turning to skills-based hiring to fill roles faster and enjoy more certainty that new employees are up to the challenge. A competency-based education can ensure your learners are.  

Are you ready to embrace competency-based education with NHA as your guide? Contact us today for more information, or click the image below to access our latest eBook — and stay tuned for the next blog in this two-part series that will explain how to leverage data to drive student performance in CBE learning.