Development of Entrustable Professional Activities for Complex General Surgical Oncology.

Area of Science:

• Surgical Education
• Competency-Based Medical Education

Background:

• Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) are integral to surgical training, adopted by the American Board of Surgery in 2023.
• Complex General Surgical Oncology (CGSO) fellowships are implementing EPAs to achieve competency-based education goals.
• This report details the initial development of an EPA set specifically for CGSO.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the process and outcomes of creating an EPA set for Complex General Surgical Oncology (CGSO) fellowships.
• To provide a template for other surgical specialties developing EPA frameworks.

Main Methods:

• A three-tiered group structure was employed: an oversight board (CGSO Board), a defining/oversight group (senior volunteers), and a writing group (attending surgeons, residents, fellows).
• The oversight group defined the need and approved the EPA set.
• The defining group established the scope of each EPA and oversaw the writing process.

Main Results:

• Twelve EPA topics were identified to cover the essential aspects of surgical oncology.
• Nineteen of twenty-three CGSO milestones were mapped to these EPAs, creating practical assessment tools.
• The developed EPAs facilitate the assessment of core competencies within CGSO training.

Conclusions:

• The creation of an EPA set for CGSO presented unique challenges, detailed herein.
• The described methodology can serve as a model for other surgical specialties.
• Sharing this experience aims to assist other programs in developing their own EPA sets for enhanced surgical training.