Global Health Competencies for Family Physician Residents, Nursing, Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy Students: A Province-Wide Study

Abstract

Introduction: In the new century, worldwide health professionals face new pressures for changes towards more cost-effective and sustainable health care for all populations. Globalization creates daunting challenges as well as new opportunities for institutions and health professionals being more connected and rethink their strategies toward an interprofessional practice. Although Health professionals are paying increased attention to issues of global health, there are no current competency assessment tools appropriate for evaluating their competency in global health. This study aims to assess global health competencies of family medicine residents, nursing, physiotherapy and occupational therapy students in five universities across Ontario, Canada Methods: A total of 429 students participated in the Global Health Competency Survey, drawn from family medicine residency, nursing, physiotherapy and occupational therapy programs of five universities in Ontario, Canada. The surveys were evaluated for face and content validity and reliability. Results: Factor analysis was used to identify the main factors to be included in the reliability analysis. Content validity was supported with one floor effect in the “racial/ethnic disparities” variable (36.1%), and few ceiling effects. Seven of the twenty-two variables performed the best (between 34% and 59.6%). For the overall rating score, no participants had floor or ceiling effects. Five factors were identified which accounted for 95% of the variance. Cronbach’s alpha was >0.8 indicating that the survey items had good internal consistency and represent a homogeneous construct. The results of the survey demonstrated that self-reported knowledge confidence in global health issues and global health skills were low for family medicine residents, nursing, physiotherapy and occupational therapy’ students. The percentage of residents and students who self-reported themselves confident was less than 60% for all global health issues. Conclusion: The Global Health Competency Survey demonstrated good internal consistency and face and content validity. The new century requires professionals competent in global health. Improvements in the core competencies in global health can be a bridge to a more equal world. Institutions must offer interprofessional approaches and a curriculum that exposes them to a varied learning methods and opportunities to improve their knowledge and skills in global health.