Abstract
Competence based training and assessment has become central to education and training for healthcare professionals. There continues to be uncertainty about the meaning of competence and how the principles underpinning competence based training and assessment can be applied to evolving subspecialty and multidisciplinary areas such as prehospital care. Considerable development work has been undertaken on a national level with the creation of a Competence Framework for Emergency Care. This article explores the concepts of competence, defines the terminology, and describes the role of a competence framework in education and training.