Day 2 Innovation Workshop: Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs), Part I

Presenter(s)

• CM

  Carol Anne Murdoch-Kinch, D.D.S., Ph.D.

  University of Michigan School of Dentistry
• VR

  Vidya Ramaswamy, Ph.D.

  University of Michigan School of Dentistry
• Td

  Tracy de Peralta, D.M.D., Ph.D., M.Clin.Ed
• MF

  Mark Fitzgerald, D.D.S., M.S.

  University of Michigan School of Dentistry
• TD

  Theodora Danciu, D.M.D., D.M.Sc.

  University of Michigan School of Dentistry
• RQ

  Rocio Quinonez, D.M.D., M.S., M.P.H.

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Dentistry

The University of Michigan has developed an EPA framework for predoctoral dental education using a modified Delphi process. The
concept of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) operationalizes competency-based education and facilitates the guidance and evaluation of learners in clinical workplaces. An EPA is a unit of professional practice that can be entrusted to a sufficiently competent learner or professional and requires proficiency in multiple competencies simultaneously. EPA-based assessment results in summative entrustment decisions to act under a specified level of supervision.

Through short presentations and storytelling, the facilitators will show how they developed the draft EPAs and how an EPA framework will be used to assess competency within a new clinical education model. They will facilitate small group activities where learning communities explore the concepts of EPAs, competencies and milestones. What can we learn from other health professions that have adopted EPAs for assessing competency? Could EPAs be an innovative solution for dental education’s challenge to ensuring (assessing) a future-ready graduate who is competent and ready for independent practice, and who will provide person-centered care?

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the concept of Entrustable Professional Activities and
  proposed EPAs core competencies and milestones for the new
  general dentist.
• Demonstrate how an EPA framework can assist dental educators in curriculum design and assessment to streamline the competency assessment process within the dental clinic setting.
• Discuss the implications of an EPA framework for assessment regarding culture change, person-centered care, the clinical learning environment and faculty development.
• Explore how this new framework could be implemented to
  support curriculum innovation to meet the goals of ADEA CCI 2.0,
  to transform the clinical learning environment and enhance
  assessment of competency and readiness for practice in your
  institutions.