Is It Time for Entrustable Professional Activities for Residency Program Directors?

Area of Science:

• Graduate Medical Education
• Academic Medicine
• Competency-Based Medical Education

Background:

• Residency program directors (PDs) are vital for high-quality graduate medical education but lack national recognition.
• The specific roles and responsibilities of PDs are not formally codified.
• There is a need to better define and support the PD position within academic medicine.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose the use of the core entrustable professional activities (EPAs) framework to define the roles and responsibilities of residency program directors.
• To outline the potential benefits of establishing EPAs for PDs.

Main Methods:

• The authors, drawing on their experience as PDs and discussions within the academic medicine community, utilized principles of competency-based medical education.
• A list of potential EPAs for PDs was developed based on these insights.

Main Results:

• The proposed EPAs can help define PD competencies through a deconstructive process.
• This framework can highlight the critical role of PDs in leading graduate medical education.
• EPAs offer a structure for assessing PD performance and providing targeted feedback.
• EPAs can guide PDs in focusing professional development and inform recruitment/selection processes.

Conclusions:

• The entrustable professional activities (EPAs) framework offers a valuable mechanism for codifying the PD role.
• Implementing EPAs can enhance the recognition, assessment, and professional development of residency program directors.
• This approach supports the advancement of high-quality graduate medical education programs.