Competency-based education: The essential basis of pre-service education for the professional midwifery workforce

The article describes the concept of competency-based education for midwives; first exploring competency itself, then providing examples of what is already known about competency-based approaches to curriculum design, teacher preparation, teacher support and assessment of student learning. These concepts are linked to competencies developed by the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) to delineate the domains of practice for the fully qualified, professional midwife. These ICM-developed competencies provide a unifying construct for education of individuals who share a common definition and identity as midwives.