The Competence Framework for Physician Associates in Mental Health
Welcome to the competence framework and curriculum for mental health physician associates. This site gives open access to the framework, curriculum and supporting document.
Although the primary audience for this work will be health workers, trainers and supervisors, and clinical managers and commissioners of services, the framework will also be useful for service users because it sets out what can be expected from a well-trained mental health physician associate.
The documents
It is important to start by reading the supporting document, which explains the role of mental health physician associates and the scope of their work, details how the competence framework was developed and includes a guide to the framework's content.
The competences
The competences are grouped in seven domains, as shown on the map below. There are three ways of accessing the competences: from the interactive map, by domain (seven PDFs) or the full competence listings (a single PDF).
1) From the interactive map
You can download a PDF of each domain from the map of competences, which you can access by clicking the image below.
The map sets out the structure of the framework and shows how the competences relate to each other. Placing the cursor over any of the boxes in the map takes you to the relevant competences.
2) From links to each domain of competences (PDFs)
To access all of the competences grouped by domain, available as individual PDFs, you can view and download them below:
3) As a single document (PDF)
To view and download the full listings of the competences, which you can navigate from the Contents page, click below:
The curriculum
The curriculum for mental health physician associates is divided into six modules, each of which is closely mapped to the structure and content of the competence framework (the latter providing a detailed account of the knowledge and skills associated with each module).
