Self-Assessment of Addiction Medicine Core Competencies in Four Year Groups of Psychiatrists in Training: Efficacy of the Addiction Medicine Training Needs Assessment Scale in a Local Training Context

Background: In addiction medicine training, self-assessment is increasingly used to support self-regulation learning by identifying standards of excellence, competence gaps, and training needs. To ensure psychiatrists in Lithuania also develop specific addiction competencies, the Lithuanian Health Sciences University faculty in Kaunas developed an addiction psychiatry curriculum. Objectives: The aim of this research is to explore the efficacy of the AM-TNA scale to measure individual and group differences in proficiency in the core competencies of addiction medicine. A cross-sectional study and a convenience sample were used. Method: We studied the differences in performance in addiction medicine competencies between 4 successive year groups and analysed the variance to determine the statistical differences between the means of 4 year groups with biases, resulting from repeated measurement statistically corrected-for. Results: Of the psychiatrists in training, 41% or 59% completed the scale. The assessment of competencies suggested that all but 2 competencies differ significantly (p < 0.05) between the 4 groups. The post hoc analyses indicated that mean scores for 24 of the 30 core competencies differed significantly between the year groups (p < 0.05) and showed a gradual increase in scores of self-assessed competencies over the 4 year groups. We found adequate scale variance and a gradual increase in self-assessed competencies between the 4 year groups, suggesting a positive association between the results of incremental professional training and improved self-assessed substance use disorders (SUD) competency scores. Conclusions: This study illustrates the efficacy of the AM-TNA scale as an assessment instrument in a local training context. Future research should aim to have larger sample sizes, be longitudinal in design, assess individual progress, and focus on comparing and combining self-reported competencies with validated objective external assessment and feedback.