Entrustable Professional Activities in Postgraduate General Surgery Training: A Scoping Review

To provide an overview of the current use of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) in postgraduate general surgery training internationally.

Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) were introduced to connect clinical competencies and the professional activities to be entrusted to trainees on graduation. The popularity of EPAs as a framework for assessment is growing globally, including in general surgery. Anecdotally, there appears to be substantial variation in how they are implemented, yet a formal comparison of their use in postgraduate general surgery training is lacking.

A scoping review was performed based on the original 5-stage approach described by Arksey and O'Malley with the addition of protocol-specific items from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Protocols extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR).

Twenty-nine published and grey literature sources were included in the review. Entrustable Professional Activity use in postgraduate general surgery training was identified in 11 unique contexts, including from North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. There were substantial differences in the scope and number of EPAs, tools used for EPA assessment, and how EPAs were sequenced through training. Despite the wide variation, 8 distinct EPAs were common to the majority (>80%) of countries. Several articles described findings of EPA use in postgraduate general surgery training, allowing the identification of multiple barriers and facilitators to integration.

This review provides guidance for certification and regulatory bodies, program directors, and institutions with ambitions to implement EPAs for assessment and curricular design. In settings where EPAs are already used, the data may facilitate the refinement of programs and strategies.