Correlation of Performance on the ENTRUST Assessment Platform With Other Variables in Competency-Based Surgical...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Competency-Based Education

Background:

• The American Board of Surgery (ABS) Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) necessitate objective assessment tools.
• The ENTRUST Assessment Platform offers virtual-patient simulations for surgical decision-making.
• Validity evidence is needed to support the ENTRUST platform's role in competency-based surgical education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To gather validity evidence for the ENTRUST Assessment Platform.
• To assess the correlation between ENTRUST scores and established surgical education variables.
• To determine the platform's utility in informing readiness for entrustment.

Main Methods:

• Prospective analysis of general surgery resident performance on the ENTRUST Right Lower Quadrant (RLQ) pain/Appendicitis EPA Assessment.
• Correlation analysis between ENTRUST scores and PGY-level, ACGME Case Logs, ACGME Surgery Milestones, and ABSITE scores.
• Utilized Spearman rank correlations for bivariate analyses at a tertiary academic center.

Main Results:

• ENTRUST scores positively correlated with PGY-level (rho=0.57), ACGME appendectomy case logs (rho=0.55), and ABSITE scores (rho=0.66).
• Significant correlations were found between ENTRUST performance and all eighteen ACGME Surgery Milestones (rho=0.43-0.54).
• The strongest correlation was observed with PC1 (Patient Evaluation and Decision Making) (rho=0.54).

Conclusions:

• ENTRUST platform performance aligns significantly with key surgical training metrics.
• This study provides further validity evidence for ENTRUST as an objective assessment tool.
• The ENTRUST Assessment Platform can supplement microassessments and support competency-based medical education.