Review
Education & Educational Research
Severin Pinilla, Eric Lenouvel, Andrea Cantisani, Stefan Kloeppel, Werner Strik, Soeren Huwendiek, Christoph Nissen
Summary: The use of EPAs in clinical rotations in UME shows promising results, with specialty-specific and context-adapted EPAs along with entrustment-supervision scales potentially enhancing formative assessment. Inconsistent validity frameworks were identified, and additional faculty time and resources were required for effective implementation strategies. More empirical research is needed to further explore the assessment and advancement of trainees from UME to graduate medical education based on summative entrustment decisions.
BMC MEDICAL EDUCATION
(2021)
Article
Education, Scientific Disciplines
Claudio Violato, Michael J. J. Cullen, Robert Englander, Katherine E. E. Murray, Patricia M. M. Hobday, Emily Borman-Shoap, Ozge Ersan
Summary: Frequent assessments on EPAs provided a developmental picture of competence consistent with the negative exponential learning curve theory. This finding was true across a variety of EPAs and across students, and the time to attain the threshold level of performance on the EPA for entrustment varied by student and EPA. The results provide validity evidence for an EPA-based program of assessment. Students assessed using multiple observations performing the Core EPAs for entering residency demonstrate classic developmental progression toward the desired level of competence resulting in entrustment decisions. Future work with larger data samples will allow further psychometric analyses of assessment of EPAs.
Article
Education & Educational Research
Christina Gummesson, Stina Alm, Anna Cederborg, Mattias Ekstedt, Jarl Hellman, Hans Hjelmqvist, Magnus Hultin, Katarina Jood, Charlotte Leanderson, Bertil Lindahl, Riitta Moller, Bjorn Rosengren, Anders Sjalander, Peter J. Svensson, Stefan Sarnblad, Alexander Tejera
Summary: This study aimed to define Core EPAs for undergraduate medical education and explore the social validity of these constructs. Ten Core EPAs were defined and validated, and were assessed as relevant for Swedish undergraduate medical education. However, there was a gap between the perceived importance of these EPAs and the students' ability to perform them independently at the time of graduation.
BMC MEDICAL EDUCATION
(2023)
Article
Education & Educational Research
Ieda Francischetti, Ylva Holzhausen, Harm Peters
Summary: This article reports on a modified Delphi study conducted in a Brazilian community medical school, which successfully defined 11 EPAs for training medical students in community medicine. These EPAs cover comprehensive care for individual health, family health, and community health needs.
BMC MEDICAL EDUCATION
(2022)
Article
Surgery
Karen J. Brasel, Brenessa Lindeman, Andrew Jones, George A. Sarosi, Rebecca Minter, Mary E. Klingensmith, James Whiting, David Borgstrom, Jo Buyske, John D. Mellinger
Summary: This study aimed to determine the feasibility and utility of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) in general surgery resident training. By collecting microassessments on common procedures and activities and utilizing the clinical competency committee's summative entrustment decisions, the study found that widespread implementation of EPAs is possible and graduating residents are entrusted to perform common surgical procedures independently without supervision.
Article
Education, Scientific Disciplines
Inge Pool, Saskia Hofstra, Marieke van der Horst, Olle ten Cate
Summary: Healthcare has become highly specialized, with specialists playing a crucial role in delivering high-quality care. However, this specialization has also led to fragmentation, with professionals often trained in separate postgraduate programs and facing challenges in collaboration. The concept of transdisciplinary entrustable professional activities (EPAs) has been proposed to enhance collaboration and flexibility in healthcare education. This paper discusses the practical and conceptual issues surrounding transdisciplinary EPAs and their potential impact on professional identity.
Article
Education, Scientific Disciplines
Norah Duggan, Vernon R. Curran, Nicholas A. Fairbridge, Diana Deacon, Heidi Coombs, Katherine Stringer, Stephen Pennell
Summary: This study evaluated the use of mobile technology for entrustable professional activity assessments in an undergraduate clerkship curriculum, finding it to be feasible and acceptable for workplace-based assessment. Both students and preceptors were satisfied with the ease of use and reliability of the mobile assessment platform, but identified the quality of formative coaching feedback as an area for improvement.
PERSPECTIVES ON MEDICAL EDUCATION
(2021)
Article
Education, Scientific Disciplines
Jacqueline de Graaf, Marieke Bolk, Auk Dijkstra, Marieke van der Horst, Reinier G. G. Hoff, Olle ten Cate
Summary: Postgraduate medical education in the Netherlands has shifted towards competency-based education, with the introduction of the CanMEDS competency framework and the implementation of entrustable professional activities (EPAs) in specialty programs. A government-funded project by the Dutch Association of Medical Specialists (DAMS) aimed to create more flexibility and individualization in training programs, resulting in a reduction of training length by an average of 3 months.
Article
Education & Educational Research
Martin Klapheke, Matthew Phillip Abrams, Morayma Cubero, Xiang Zhu
Summary: This study piloted the use of workplace-based assessments for students and utilized entrustable professional activities and RIME models. The results showed that students no longer needed direct supervision for certain skills, and they found the feedback helpful. This study indicates that this assessment method is an effective and competency-based approach to medical education.
ACADEMIC PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Review
Education & Educational Research
John A. Encandela, Lynn Shaull, Amy Jayas, Jonathan M. Amiel, David R. Brown, Vivian T. Obeso, Michael S. Ryan, Dorothy A. Andriole
Summary: In 2014, AAMC published 13 Core EPAs that graduating students should be able to perform when entering residency. A multi-year pilot was conducted to test the feasibility of implementing these EPAs. A case study in 2020-21 described the implementation experiences of pilot schools, highlighting the importance of team commitment, curriculum reform, inter-school collaboration, and robust formative feedback for student progress.
MEDICAL EDUCATION ONLINE
(2023)
Article
Education, Scientific Disciplines
David R. Steeb, Tina P. Brock, Sarah A. Dascanio, Paul K. Drain, Allison Squires, Melissa Thumm, Robin Tittle, Stuart T. Haines
Summary: This study aimed to develop entrustable professional activities (EPAs) for global health with participation from 55 experts. A total of 22 core activities were identified and categorized into 5 role domains, with activities in the equity advocate and partnership developer domains rated as most important.
Article
Pediatrics
Lavjay Butani, Jennifer Plant, Michael A. Barone, Gary L. Beck Dallaghan
Summary: Most pediatric UME educators understand EPAs and recognize their benefits, but only a minority actually use them. EPAs provide a valuable framework, but challenges from contextual factors affecting personal agency could impact educator commitment in implementation.
ACADEMIC PEDIATRICS
(2021)
Review
Education, Scientific Disciplines
Andrea Louise Bramley, Lisa McKenna
Summary: Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) are a recent enhancement to competency-based health professional education that describe the work done by a competent health professional. They have been used primarily in postgraduate medical education but are gaining acceptance in undergraduate health professional education as well. The main motivations for using EPAs include improving patient safety and student assessment.
Article
Education & Educational Research
Feng Yan, Xu Yang, Ligang Zhang, Huaqin Cheng, Luyuan Bai, Fude Yang
Summary: The authors established entrustable professional activities for psychiatry residents in China through literature research and expert consultations. They screened and optimized these activities using the Delphi method. The results showed a 100% questionnaire recovery rate in the two consultation rounds. The authors formulated 17 entrustable professional activities with phase-based modularization and determined the entrustable level for each stage.
BMC MEDICAL EDUCATION
(2023)
Review
Pediatrics
Janna-Lina Kerth, Lena van Treel, Hans Martin Bosse
Summary: This systematic review examined the use of EPAs in pediatrics and summarized evidence regarding their development, implementation, and assessment. The findings indicate an increase in publications on EPAs and a shift in focus from development processes to aspects such as implementation, feasibility, acceptance, and assessment.
ACADEMIC PEDIATRICS
(2022)