How to define core entrustable professional activities for entry into residency?

Abstract

BackgroundInstitutions considering to employ core Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) for entry into postgraduate training as outcomes for their undergraduate medical programs can partly build on published examples, but also have to undergo their own content validation process to take their specific context into consideration. This process involves several challenges and is not well-described in the literature. Here, we report in detail on a systematic, literature-based approach we recently utilised at our institution to define core EPAs for entry into residency.Main bodyCentral to the process was a modified Delphi consent procedure. It involved a multistep interaction between a writing team and a multidisciplinary panel of experienced physicians. Panel members provided both quantitative ratings and qualitative feedback on the EPA categories title, specification/limitations, conditions and implications of entrustment decision, knowledge, skills, and attitude. Consent was achieved when a Content Validity Index (CVI) of ≥80% was reached. The writing team adjusted the EPA category descriptions on the basis of panel members´ ratings and comments, and specified the EPA categories’ link to competencies and assessment sources. This process produced a description and definition of a full set of core EPAs for entry into residency adapted to our context.ConclusionsThis process description for locally adapted core EPAs for entry into residency may support and guide other medical schools in the development and implementation of EPAs into their programs.

Entrustable professional activities in health care education: a scoping review

“…Medical education committees from various clinical departments (e.g. paediatrics and pharmacy) proposed detailed step‐by‐step frameworks for developing or implementing core or specialty EPAs ( n = 12) . The general process included (i) conducting a literature review, (ii) defining draft EPAs based on attributes, (iii) determining components of EPAs, (iv) developing EPAs and assessment strategies, (v) defining competencies and milestones, (vi) mapping milestones to EPAs and (vii) faculty development.…”

The modular curriculum of medicine at the Charité Berlin – a project report based on an across-semester student evaluation

“…Meanwhile, expectations regarding the necessary level of supervision while carrying out these activities decrease. This longitudinal teaching format is based on the concept of entrustable professional activities, which has been increasingly recognised as a helpful tool for competency-based training in medical education [22], [23], [http://www.profilesmed.ch]. …”

Entrustable Professional Activities for Community Medicine: Integrating Medical Undergraduate Courses and Primary Health Care

“…The first stage of the study was the description of 11 EPAs for community medicine for the first two years of medical school. The produced material was submitted to the appreciation of a panel of specialists, according to the Delphi technique (Holzhausen, Maaz, Renz, Bosch, & Peters, 2019;Lynn, 1986;Alexandre & Coluci, 2011;Scarparo et al, 2012). The panelists were teachers with content expertise in community medicine: six nurses and nine physicians.…”