Assessment of entrustable professional activities among master of public health students: A study protocol

In the current era, the field of public health carries immense importance, especially with regard to addressing complex global challenges. The present study has been planned with the objectives of developing and validating appropriate assessment tools for public health-related Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs), assessing the utility of the validated tools in the assessment of Master of Public Health (MPH) students, and obtaining feedback from MPH students and faculty regarding the assessment process.

A single-center, prospective, interventional, pilot study will be conducted in the Department of Community Medicine, Datta Meghe Medical College, with the study participants being MPH students over a period of 2 years. Faculty members and MPH students will be sensitized about different aspects of the study, and three EPAs (depending on their feasibility) and three corresponding appropriate assessment tools will be selected for the pilot study. Subsequently, a checklist (for Objective Structured Clinical Examination) and rubrics of milestones (For Direct Observation of Procedural Skills and Mini-Peer Assessment Tool) will be developed for the corresponding EPAs, and these assessment tools will be validated using the Delphi Method with the help of four subject experts. After each assessment, constructive feedback will be given by the assessor, students will be asked to reflect upon their performance, identify their areas of weakness, and develop shared learning goals. Finally, feedback from both faculty members and MPH students will be obtained about the overall assessment process.

The proposed study aims to assess EPAs that are essential for public health practice, ensuring that MPH students can independently perform real-world tasks. This is expected to bridge the existing educational gaps, provide insights into the shortcomings of the existing curriculum, and help educators bring about alignment between global trends and the curriculum of the MPH program.