Development of Entrustable Professional Activities for entry into residency at the Charité Berlin

Abstract

Background: Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) have emerged as a new approach to operationalise the workplace performance expectations for the transition from under- to postgraduate medical training. However, the transferability of such EPAs from one context to another appears limited. In this article, we report on the results of our approach to define a full set of core EPAs for entry into residency with the expectation to be performed under distant supervision. Methods: The EPA development involved a modified, three round Delphi study, conducted at the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The supervision level was operationalised as supervisor being distantly available and findings being reviewed. The threshold for consent was reaching a content validity index of a least 80%. The Delphi study involved experienced physicians (n=45) and resulted in a set of core EPAs with the descriptions of the categories: title, specification/limitations, conditions and implications of entrustment decision, knowledge, skills, and attitude, link to competencies and assessment sources. Results: The response rates were 76-80% in the Delphi rounds. Key to the content validation process for the performance expectation was deciding on “to act under distant supervision”. The results are full descriptions of 12 core EPAs, organised into 5 overarching EPA domains. Conclusions: Our systematic approach yielded the definition of 12 core EPAs for entry into residency at the level of “act with distant supervision” according to the practice in our context. This report may support other medical schools who plan to implement EPAs into their curricula.

Keywords

• Entrustable Professional Activities
• curriculum development
• undergraduate medical education
• consensus methods