A Curriculum Crosswalk of the Core Entrustable Professional Activities for New Pharmacy Graduates

Abstract

Objective. To cross reference the core entrustable professional activities (EPAs) to a complete set of educational guidance documents for the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum to create a map for pharmacy educators. Methods. The Mapping EPAs Task Force consisted of nine members who first worked independently and then together in small working groups to map five assigned educational guidance documents (eg, Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education [CAPE] Outcomes, Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education [ACPE] Standards 1-4, and the Essential Elements for Core Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences [APPEs]) to the Core Entrustable Professional Activities for New Pharmacy Graduates. Four working groups completed the mapping process during phases 1 and 2, which was followed by an independent quality assurance review and consensus in phase 3. Results. All 15 core EPA statements were mapped to one or more of the educational documents. One item from the CAPE Outcomes could not be mapped to a core EPA statement. The first five EPA statements mapped directly to the five elements of the Pharmacists' Patient Care Process: collect, assess, plan, implement, and follow-up: monitor and evaluate. Conclusion. This comprehensive EPA map is the first curriculum crosswalk that encompasses a complete set of educational guidance documents including the Essential Elements for Core APPEs for the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum. If adopted by the Academy, this curriculum crosswalk will provide pharmacy schools with a common interpretation of important educational guidance documents; serve as the foundation for curricular development, revision, and assessment; and ensure student pharmacists are prepared to enter the pharmacy profession.

A Review of Entrustable Professional Activities in Pharmacy Education

“…17,18,21 Kanmaz and colleagues described how an EPA task force successfully mapped all 15 core EPA statements developed by the AACP for pharmacy graduates in 2017 to the five educational guidance documents that govern the PharmD curriculum. 21,[34][35][36][37] This demonstrates the connection between curriculum design and assessment of student learning. 21 During the EPA framework development stage, the QUEPA tool or EQual rubric can be applied to assess the quality of EPAs.…”

“…Three articles were descriptive in nature and five were analytical studies. 8,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23] The majority of the articles about frameworks for the development of EPAs for the workplace were in the setting of medical education. The two validated tools identified to assist in the development of EPAs are the QUEPA tool and EQual rubric.…”

“…[17][18][19] Kanmaz and colleagues also describe how an EPA task force successfully mapped all 15 core EPA statements developed by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) for pharmacy graduates in 2017 to the five educational guidance documents that govern the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum in America. 21 In another study, Pittenger and colleagues developed a questionnaire looking at pharmacy students' perceptions of EPAs, based on the validated QUEPA tool and demonstrated >94% of students agreed that 14 out of the 15 EPA statements published by the AACP were relevant to pharmacy practice. 23 Haines and colleagues also used the QUEPA tool surveying pharmacists instead of students.…”

Appraisal of the entrustable professional activities interprofessional team member domain performed by North Dakota pharmacists

“… 7 A contemporary crosswalk from ACPE Standards and CAPE Outcomes to EPAs has been developed to further display and explain these connections to pharmacy educators. 8 , 9 In doing so, EPAs facilitate valid and reliable assessments of students by preceptors during experiential curricula. 10 , 11 …”

Development of professional competencies in higher pharmaceutical education according to students ‎

“…These include preparation for solving tasks of professional activity of the following types: pharmaceutical, expertanalytical, organizational-managerial, control and resolution, and production and research. Professional competencies are developed based on professional standards [7-10], as well as concerning the requirements for graduates in the labor market, generalization of Russian and international experience, consultations with leading employers [6,[11][12][13][14][15][16].Access this article online…”