Twelve tips to develop entrustable professional activities

Abstract

Entrustable professional activities (EPAs), units of professional practice that require proficient integration of multiple competencies and can be entrusted to a sufficiently competent learner, are increasingly being used to define and inform curricula of health care professionals. The process of developing EPAs can be challenging and requires a deep yet pragmatic understanding of the concepts underlying EPA construction. Based on recent literature and the authors’ lessons learned, this article provides the following practical and more or less sequential recommendations for developing EPAs: [1] Assemble a core team; [2] Build up expertise; [3] Establish a shared understanding of the purpose of EPAs; [4] Draft preliminary EPAs; [5] Elaborate EPAs; [6] Adopt a framework of supervision; [7] Perform a structured quality check; [8] Use a Delphi approach for refinement and/or consensus; [9] Pilot test EPAs; [10] Attune EPAs to their feasibility in assessment; [11] Map EPAs to existing curriculum; [12] Build a revision plan.

Keywords:

• Entrustable professional activities
• curriculum development
• assessment

Disclosure statement

The authors confirm that all listed authors meet the Taylor & Francis authorship criteria, that this manuscript is original, written by the authors without scientific writing assistance, has not been published before, is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere nor was it submitted to pre-print.

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest, financial or other, associated with this publication, and there has been no financial support (e.g. grants) for this work. As the corresponding author, I confirm that the manuscript has been read and approved for submission by all the named authors.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Marije P. Hennus

Dr. M.P. Hennus is a pediatric intensivist and associate professor, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Twitter @MaPHenn

Jennie B. Jarrett

J.B. Jarrett is clinical pharmacist and research assistant professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice, University of Illinois Chicago College of Pharmacy, Chicago, IL, USA; Twitter @JennieB_Jarrett

David R. Taylor

Dr. D.R. Taylor is an internist and associate professor, Department of Medicine, Queen’s University School of Medicine, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.; Twitter @DadDavidTaylor

Olle ten Cate

Dr. O. ten Cate, PhD is a professor of medical education and senior scientist at the Center for Research and Development of Education, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands.; Twitter @olletencate.