A recent IOM report described five competencies that should guide the curriculum development of educational systems across health care disciplines. The Joint Commission's Health Care Professional Education Roundtable is evaluating the IOM-promulgated competencies, devising strategies to promote the adoption of consensus-based competencies, and developing additional solutions that address other factors inherent in the issue, such as performance measurement and health care financing. Public policy roundtables were held in October 2003 and March 2004. A national conference on health care professional education was held September 14-15, 2005, which will be followed by the release of a white paper.