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. 2021 May;153(1):121-131.
doi: 10.1007/s11060-021-03750-6. Epub 2021 Apr 21.

Proposed definition of competencies for surgical neuro-oncology training

Marcel A Kamp  1   2 , Bastian Malzkorn  3 , Christiane von Sass  4   5 , Francesco DiMeco  6   7 , Constantinos G Hadjipanayis  8   9 , Christian Senft  4 , Marion Rapp  5 , Irina Gepfner-Tuma  10 , Konstantinos Fountas  11   12 , Sandro M Krieg  13 , Martin Neukirchen  14   15 , Ioan Ștefan Florian  16   17 , Oliver Schnell  18 , Hendrik-Jan Mijderwijk  5 , Alessandro Perin  6   7 , Peter Baumgarten  4 , Jasper H van Lieshout  5 , Niklas Thon  19 , Miriam Renovanz  20   21 , Ulf Kahlert  22 , Jochem K H Spoor  23 , Daniel Hänggi  5 , Aaron Lawson McLean  4   24 , Matthias Mäurer  25 , Silvio Sarrubbo  26 , Christian F Freyschlag  27 , Nils O Schmidt  28 , Francesco Vergani  29 , Christine Jungk  30 , Marco Stein  31 , Marie-Therese Forster  32 , Jeffrey S Weinberg  33 , John Sinclair  34 , Evgenii Belykh  35 , Lorenzo Bello  36 , Emmanuel Mandonnet  37 , Aliasgar Moiyadi  38 , Michael Sabel  5
Affiliations

Proposed definition of competencies for surgical neuro-oncology training

Marcel A Kamp et al. J Neurooncol. 2021 May.

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this work is to define competencies and entrustable professional activities (EPAs) to be imparted within the framework of surgical neuro-oncological residency and fellowship training as well as the education of medical students. Improved and specific training in surgical neuro-oncology promotes neuro-oncological expertise, quality of surgical neuro-oncological treatment and may also contribute to further development of neuro-oncological techniques and treatment protocols. Specific curricula for a surgical neuro-oncologic education have not yet been established.

Methods: We used a consensus-building approach to propose skills, competencies and EPAs to be imparted within the framework of surgical neuro-oncological training. We developed competencies and EPAs suitable for training in surgical neuro-oncology.

Result: In total, 70 competencies and 8 EPAs for training in surgical neuro-oncology were proposed. EPAs were defined for the management of the deteriorating patient, the management of patients with the diagnosis of a brain tumour, tumour-based resections, function-based surgical resections of brain tumours, the postoperative management of patients, the collaboration as a member of an interdisciplinary and/or -professional team and finally for the care of palliative and dying patients and their families.

Conclusions and relevance: The present work should subsequently initiate a discussion about the proposed competencies and EPAs and, together with the following discussion, contribute to the creation of new training concepts in surgical neuro-oncology.

Keywords: Competence-based learning; Competencies; EPAs; Education; Entrustable professional activities; Neuro-oncology; Surgical neuro-oncology.

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Conflict of interest statement

M. Sabel and M. Rapp work as consultants for Johnson & Johnson Company and Integra Company. S.M. Krieg works as consultant for Brainlab, Nexstim, Zeiss und Spineart and received honorary from Medtronic. C.G. Hadjipanayis is a consultant to NX Development Corp and Synaptive Medical. N. T. works as a consultant and received honorary from Brainlab and Novocure. All other authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers' bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements), or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Levels of entrustment. Figure 1 visualizes degree of entrustment that should be achieved at various points in time during the training. The color-coding of the five-level entrustment scale is given at the bottom of the figure. The green dotted line indicates the licence to practise and the red dotted line the neurosurgical board examination. “A” indicates possible time-points for an assessment of proficiency in each EPA. However, time-point and form of the assessment should be adapted to the local frameworks and other qualifications as e.g. a neurosurgical board examination may be taken into account. A assessment, BT brain tumour
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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