Entrustable professional activities in undergraduate medical education in foreign medical colleges and universities: research advances and implications / 中华医学教育探索杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To review the process, contents, theoretical basis, and evaluation methods for constructing the framework of entrustable professional activities (EPAs) in the stage of undergraduate medical education (UME) in foreign medical colleges and universities.Methods:PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Scopus databases were searched to obtain the articles on EPAs in the stage of UME published up to May 2022, and then a systematic review was performed.Results:A total of 17 articles were included, and the analysis showed that the framework of EPAs in the UME stage was mainly constructed by referring to the existing framework of EPAs and conducting multiple rounds of consultation and revision. The contents of EPAs include core basic EPAs, core specific professional EPAs, and individual selective EPAs. The theoretical basis for developing the EPAs framework mainly include the Miller's Pyramid of Assessment model and Dreyfus and Dreyfus's Model of Skills Acquisition. The mainstream frameworks of EPAs competency include Canadian CanMEDS, six core competencies of American ACGME and their corresponding milestones. The confidence level of EPAs evaluated at the UME stage is highlighted as 9 levels of stratification, and the evaluation methods for confidence decision mainly include observation, communication, and review of results.Conclusion:Foreign EPAs-related research in the UME stage has become more mature, but there is a lack of related studies in China. Chinese medical education researchers can learn from the experience in the development of EPAs in foreign countries and combine it with China's actual situation to construct an integrated EPAs framework for medical education covering the UME stage and the evaluation criteria for confidence level, so as to promote competency-oriented evaluation and feedback and accelerate the construction of a medical talent training system that serves the whole life cycle and the whole health process.