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. 2023 Nov 20;10(4):100097.
doi: 10.1016/j.acpath.2023.100097. eCollection 2023 Oct-Dec.

From principles to practice: Implementation of entrustable professional activities (EPAs) for surgical pathology residency education in a large academic hospital

Christopher Felicelli  1 , Alcino Gama  1 , Yevgen Chornenkyy  1 , Bonnie Choy  1 , Luis Z Blanco Jr  1 , Jorge E Novo  1
Affiliations

From principles to practice: Implementation of entrustable professional activities (EPAs) for surgical pathology residency education in a large academic hospital

Christopher Felicelli et al. Acad Pathol. .

Abstract

Over the past decade, competency-based medical education (CBME) has gained momentum in the United States to develop trainees into independent and confident physicians by the end of their training. Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) are an established methodology for assessing trainee development through an outcomes-driven rather than a time-based model. While EPAs have been utilized as an assessment tool for CBME in Europe and Canada, their validation and implementation in some medical specialties has occurred more recently in the United States. Pediatrics was the first specialty in the US to conduct a large-scale UME-GME pilot. Pathology Residency EPAs were published in 2018; however, implementation in training programs has been slow. We have piloted EPAs in our residency program's surgical pathology rotation and propose a unique set of 4 surgical pathology EPAs to track trainee preparedness for independent practice.

Keywords: Competency-based medical education; Entrustable professional activities; Graduated responsibility; Medical education; Surgical pathology.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Surgical pathology rotation model with EPA and milestone breakdowns.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Survey responses for ease of use, feasibility, and impact of the EPA forms for residents (A) and Faculty (B). Legend: 1-strongly disagree, 2-disagree, 3-neutral, 4-agree, 5-strongly agree.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Preliminary EPA evaluation form responses for Sign-Out (A) and Frozens (B), showing the tracking of the progression of residents, demonstrating the average EPA form score across total workdays experienced in surgical pathology.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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