Professional competency and working with others

This chapter provides the reader with a general overview of professional practice, competency and the concept of multi- and inter-disciplinary teams. Achieving and maintaining a minimum standard of professional competency is an important aspect of many careers, and sport and exercise science is no exception. The premise underpinning professional competency suggests that an individual achieves some initial baseline, or minimum threshold standard in the form of a measure of his or her ‘fitness to practice’ or a ‘license to practice’. Once a practitioner is ‘skilled’ in a professional and internal organisational capacity, she or he then needs to remain up-to-date on emerging developments in both contexts. A fundamental activity to help practitioners recognise those areas of their professional practice in need of improvement is reflective practice. In the context of the sport and exercise community, some good examples exist of multidisciplinary approaches to the support and preparation of individual elite athletes and/or squads.