A multi-method approach to drafting candidate entrustable professional activities for a general internal medicine residency programme

INTRODUCTION: Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) are units of concrete daily clinical tasks that trainee physicians should be able to handle with increasing autonomy during their postgraduate training. EPAs are gaining international recognition as an essential component of competency-based...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Matteo Monti, Valérie Pittet, Sonia Frick, David Gachoud
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SMW supporting association (Trägerverein Swiss Medical Weekly SMW) 2024-05-01
Series:Swiss Medical Weekly
Online Access:https://smw.ch/index.php/smw/article/view/3592
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850160764930752512
author Matteo Monti
Valérie Pittet
Sonia Frick
David Gachoud
author_facet Matteo Monti
Valérie Pittet
Sonia Frick
David Gachoud
author_sort Matteo Monti
collection DOAJ
description INTRODUCTION: Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) are units of concrete daily clinical tasks that trainee physicians should be able to handle with increasing autonomy during their postgraduate training. EPAs are gaining international recognition as an essential component of competency-based medical training programmes. The process of developing EPAs for a nationwide training programme is complex and requires an in-depth understanding of EPAs as a concept and good knowledge of appropriate development processes. This article provides a detailed description of the methodology and results of a multi-step approach for developing a list of candidate EPAs for Switzerland’s postgraduate training programme in general internal medicine (GIM). METHODS: We took a multi-step approach including a systematic review of international literature, four national focus groups, a national consensus process using a RAND appropriateness method, and a quality check of the selected candidate EPAs using EQual criteria. RESULTS: These steps generated a final list of 247 candidate EPAs in general internal medicine that were submitted for the national consensus process. After two rounds of rating, experts agreed on the appropriateness for general internal medicine postgraduate training of 225 candidate EPAs. Twenty-two were deemed inappropriate, and disagreement persisted only for two EPAs. DISCUSSION: This multi-step programme is one of the few describing in detail the process of developing a list of EPAs and providing evidence of validity at each step. The clinical breadth of our candidate EPAs, together with the detailed description of our methodology, could serve as a useful starting point from which medical education specialists or clinicians could develop or revise applicable lists of EPAs, particularly for postgraduate training programmes in either general internal medicine or family medicine.
format Article
id doaj-art-ef1774e0089940cfbc50cb0346ce34be
institution OA Journals
issn 1424-3997
language English
publishDate 2024-05-01
publisher SMW supporting association (Trägerverein Swiss Medical Weekly SMW)
record_format Article
series Swiss Medical Weekly
spelling doaj-art-ef1774e0089940cfbc50cb0346ce34be2025-08-20T02:23:04ZengSMW supporting association (Trägerverein Swiss Medical Weekly SMW)Swiss Medical Weekly1424-39972024-05-01154510.57187/s.3592A multi-method approach to drafting candidate entrustable professional activities for a general internal medicine residency programmeMatteo Monti0Valérie PittetSonia FrickDavid GachoudLausanne university hospital and university of Lausanne INTRODUCTION: Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) are units of concrete daily clinical tasks that trainee physicians should be able to handle with increasing autonomy during their postgraduate training. EPAs are gaining international recognition as an essential component of competency-based medical training programmes. The process of developing EPAs for a nationwide training programme is complex and requires an in-depth understanding of EPAs as a concept and good knowledge of appropriate development processes. This article provides a detailed description of the methodology and results of a multi-step approach for developing a list of candidate EPAs for Switzerland’s postgraduate training programme in general internal medicine (GIM). METHODS: We took a multi-step approach including a systematic review of international literature, four national focus groups, a national consensus process using a RAND appropriateness method, and a quality check of the selected candidate EPAs using EQual criteria. RESULTS: These steps generated a final list of 247 candidate EPAs in general internal medicine that were submitted for the national consensus process. After two rounds of rating, experts agreed on the appropriateness for general internal medicine postgraduate training of 225 candidate EPAs. Twenty-two were deemed inappropriate, and disagreement persisted only for two EPAs. DISCUSSION: This multi-step programme is one of the few describing in detail the process of developing a list of EPAs and providing evidence of validity at each step. The clinical breadth of our candidate EPAs, together with the detailed description of our methodology, could serve as a useful starting point from which medical education specialists or clinicians could develop or revise applicable lists of EPAs, particularly for postgraduate training programmes in either general internal medicine or family medicine. https://smw.ch/index.php/smw/article/view/3592
spellingShingle Matteo Monti
Valérie Pittet
Sonia Frick
David Gachoud
A multi-method approach to drafting candidate entrustable professional activities for a general internal medicine residency programme
Swiss Medical Weekly
title A multi-method approach to drafting candidate entrustable professional activities for a general internal medicine residency programme
title_full A multi-method approach to drafting candidate entrustable professional activities for a general internal medicine residency programme
title_fullStr A multi-method approach to drafting candidate entrustable professional activities for a general internal medicine residency programme
title_full_unstemmed A multi-method approach to drafting candidate entrustable professional activities for a general internal medicine residency programme
title_short A multi-method approach to drafting candidate entrustable professional activities for a general internal medicine residency programme
title_sort multi method approach to drafting candidate entrustable professional activities for a general internal medicine residency programme
url https://smw.ch/index.php/smw/article/view/3592
work_keys_str_mv AT matteomonti amultimethodapproachtodraftingcandidateentrustableprofessionalactivitiesforageneralinternalmedicineresidencyprogramme
AT valeriepittet amultimethodapproachtodraftingcandidateentrustableprofessionalactivitiesforageneralinternalmedicineresidencyprogramme
AT soniafrick amultimethodapproachtodraftingcandidateentrustableprofessionalactivitiesforageneralinternalmedicineresidencyprogramme
AT davidgachoud amultimethodapproachtodraftingcandidateentrustableprofessionalactivitiesforageneralinternalmedicineresidencyprogramme
AT matteomonti multimethodapproachtodraftingcandidateentrustableprofessionalactivitiesforageneralinternalmedicineresidencyprogramme
AT valeriepittet multimethodapproachtodraftingcandidateentrustableprofessionalactivitiesforageneralinternalmedicineresidencyprogramme
AT soniafrick multimethodapproachtodraftingcandidateentrustableprofessionalactivitiesforageneralinternalmedicineresidencyprogramme
AT davidgachoud multimethodapproachtodraftingcandidateentrustableprofessionalactivitiesforageneralinternalmedicineresidencyprogramme