Establishment of the Entrustable Professional Activities for the Residency Program in Stomatology: A Delphi Consensus...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Dental Training
• Competency-Based Assessment

Background:

• Current stomatology residency training requires standardized evaluation metrics.
• Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) offer a framework for assessing clinical competency.
• Defining EPAs is essential for ensuring resident preparedness in dentistry.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a consensus-based index of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) for stomatological residents.
• To define the core competencies required for independent practice in stomatology.
• To inform the development of competency-based assessment tools for dental residents.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 30 experts in stomatology and medical education.
• Designed an EPAs index based on scoping reviews and clinical practice requirements.
• Utilized a two-round Delphi method for expert consultation and consensus building.

Main Results:

• Achieved 100% expert consensus on the EPAs index.
• Established a final index comprising 16 EPAs for stomatological residents.
• All 16 EPAs demonstrated high importance, familiarity, observability, authenticity, universality, and competency scores, with low variability.

Conclusions:

• A preliminary index of EPAs for stomatological residents has been constructed.
• The established EPAs provide a foundation for competency-based assessment in stomatology.
• Further validation is recommended to refine these EPAs for practical application in residency programs.