Development of entrustable professional activities for dental educators: a modified Delphi study.

Area of Science:

• Dental Education
• Health Professions Education
• Professional Development

Background:

• A need exists for Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) specifically for health professions educators, including dental educators.
• Current literature lacks EPA frameworks tailored to the unique scope of practice for dental educators.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a validated, consensus-based set of EPAs for dental educators.

Main Methods:

• A three-stage consensus-building approach: systematic scoping review, Modified Delphi exercise with 10 experts, and a final consensus focus group.
• Consensus defined by median rating ≥3 (4-point Likert scale) and item-level Content Validity Index (i-CVI) ≥0.8.

Main Results:

• An initial 40 EPAs were identified. After two rounds of Delphi and a focus group, 68 EPAs were endorsed.
• The final set of 68 EPAs was organized into 12 distinct domains.

Conclusions:

• A validated set of 68 EPAs for dental educators was successfully developed, addressing a critical literature gap.
• This EPA set serves as a foundational tool for dental educator professional development, performance assessment, and role definition.