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Implementation of Entrustable Professional Activities into a General Surgery Residency
Christopher C Stahl1, Eric Collins2, Sarah A Jung1
1Department of Surgery, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin.
Journal of Surgical Education
|February 12, 2020
Summary
Implementing Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) in surgical residency requires a mobile app and ongoing faculty development. This strategy successfully integrated EPAs into the assessment framework, addressing current limitations.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Surgical Training
- Competency-Based Education
Background:
- Concerns about resident preparedness post-graduation drive the competency-based medical education (CBME) movement.
- Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) offer a framework for CBME in surgery, but face implementation challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe a strategy for implementing EPAs into an academic general surgery residency program.
- To assess the feasibility and initial outcomes of using a mobile application for EPA assessment.
Main Methods:
- A mobile application was developed to incorporate 5 American Board of Surgery EPAs.
- Residents and faculty received training; entrustment levels and feedback were collected via the app.
- Faculty assessments informed clinical competency committee decisions, with regular feedback loops.
Main Results:
- Over 16 months, 1,720 microassessments were collected, with 47.8% performed by faculty.
- Engagement varied, with a small group of high performers in both resident and faculty categories.
- Non-surgical specialties contributed significantly to resident assessments (28.8%).
Conclusions:
- EPAs are being successfully integrated into the institutional assessment framework.
- Implementing EPAs in surgical residency is a long-term endeavor requiring investment.
- This approach may address limitations within the existing assessment framework.
