Special Report: Entrustable Professional Activities in Sex- and Gender-Based Women's Health

Abstract

Background: A set of core competencies in sex- and gender-based women's health (SGWH) has been endorsed by the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM), but many residencies lack the resources to implement curricula and clinical assessments that would support achievement of these competencies.

Aim: Develop entrustable professional activities (EPA) to support implementation and assessment of clinical care for SGIM's SGWH Core Competencies.

Program description: Members of SGIM's SGWH Education Interest Group developed 18 SGWH EPAs for internal medicine residents. A team of clinician educators coordinated the preparation, drafting, quality control, and curriculum alignment of the SGWH EPAs through a rigorous process aligned with best practices for EPAs. All EPAs are mapped to the larger competency domains from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), for use with ACGME Milestones. The authors provide suggestions for the implementation of the EPAs into residency training.

Conclusion: As residency education moves towards a competency-based structure, EPAs are needed to translate broad competencies into observable clinical skills. The SGWH EPAs provide a rigorously developed and ready-made tool for programs to link the SGWH core competencies to residency curriculum development, clinical assessment, and program evaluation.