Entrustable professional activity-aligned workplace-based assessments in the emergency department: perceptions of...

Workplace-based assessment (WBA) plays a crucial role in assessing entrustable professional activities (EPAs) in the competency-based medical education era. This pilot study explored the perceptions of residents and assessors of two WBAs for three Korean Society of Emergency Medicine EPAs.

Eight emergency medicine (EM) residents underwent WBAs, with mini-clinical evaluation exercises (mini-CEX) conducted by nine EM faculty members and multisource feedback (MSF) provided by two internal medicine faculty members and four emergency room nurses, for a total of 69 assessments. We conducted an anonymous online survey to gather feedback on experiences, perceptions, and recommendations for improving WBA, such as mini-CEX and MSF, with responses scored on a 5-point Likert scale.

Of the 23 initial participants, 15 (65.2%) responded, including 5 residents and 10 assessors. EM faculty viewed mini-CEX favorably, noting its strong integration of supervision and effectiveness in assessing resident performance. EM residents reported comfort issues during assessments, preferring immediate feedback and multiple assessors. MSF was generally perceived positively but showed discrepancies in the utilities of rating scales and feedback types, indicating potential areas for improvement.

Two WBAs for three Korean Society of Emergency Medicine EPAs were found to be feasible and acceptable in the context of Korean EM residency training. However, perceptions varied between assessors and residents, necessitating clear communication about WBA objectives and processes. Our findings are useful for shaping future EPA-based training programs, balancing traditional and WBA methods, and enhancing feedback quality.