Content validation of competency development levels for a physiotherapy curriculum: a two-phase study with an expert panel

Competency-based education has become a central framework in physiotherapy education. Beyond defining graduate competencies, it requires explicit developmental pathways that support teaching and assessment. However, in many curricula this progression remains implicit. This study aimed to reconstruct the implicit competency progression within an undergraduate physiotherapy curriculum and establish the content validity of the resulting competency development levels. A two-stage methodological study was conducted. First, competency development levels were reconstructed from the existing curriculum. Second, a two-phase content validation process was conducted through expert judgment. In Phase 1, five experts evaluated the preliminary competency development levels according to clarity, coherence, relevance, and sufficiency using a four-point ordinal scale. Quantitative ratings and qualitative feedback guided descriptor refinement. In Phase 2, a different panel of five experts evaluated the revised version. Inter-rater agreement was assessed using Fleiss’ Kappa. The reconstruction process generated an initial version comprising 54 competency development levels. Following expert-guided refinement, Version 2 comprised 60 competency development levels (17 introductory, 21 reinforcement, and 22 consolidation). Fleiss’ Kappa values were higher across all four dimensions in Phase 2, although changes in both the descriptors and the expert panel preclude attributing this difference solely to descriptor refinement. The study reconstructed the developmental progression implicit in an existing undergraduate curriculum and provided evidence of content validity for the resulting competency development levels. The methodological approach may provide a basis for adaptation in other physiotherapy curricula, although its transferability requires empirical examination in other institutional contexts.