Research Agenda for Entrustable Professional Activities Among US Surgical Specialties

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Competency-Based Education

Background:

• Surgical advancements necessitate updated residency training curricula.
• Competency-based medical education (CBME) and learner-centered approaches address modern educational demands.
• Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) are emerging as a key framework in surgical disciplines.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide an overview of CBME and its link to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Milestones.
• To describe the implementation of EPAs in surgical training.
• To propose a research agenda for EPAs in US surgical specialties.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and analysis using NVivo software.
• Collaboration with an informationist to develop a PubMed search strategy.
• Identification of key research themes for an EPA framework.

Main Results:

• A research agenda with five domains: entrustment/readiness, bias/environment, features/certification, feedback, and patient outcomes.
• Identification of research questions and data integration strategies for EPA studies.
• Exploration of EPAs' utility in surgical residency training.

Conclusions:

• Early evaluation of CBME reforms is crucial.
• Optimizing education and assessment through EPAs will improve patient care.
• A structured research agenda will guide the effective implementation of EPAs in surgery.