How Internal Medicine Clerkship Directors Are Using Entrustable Professional Activities: A National Survey Study

Background

In the present assessment environment in undergraduate medical education at U.S. medical schools, the prevalence and implementation of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) in internal medicine (IM) clerkships are not well understood.

Objective

To describe the prevalence and approach to EPA use in U.S. IM clerkships.

Design

Cross-sectional, nationally representative survey of core IM clerkship directors.

Participants

One-hundred forty IM clerkship directors at Liaison Committee on Medical Education-accredited U.S./U.S. territory-based allopathic medical schools with membership in the Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine (CDIM) as of December 2022.

Main Measures

Use of EPAs in IM core clerkships, including use for grading, types of EPAs, use of supportive measures for assessment, and current validity frameworks.

Key Results

The survey response was 80% (112/140); two additional respondents completed the section on EPA use (n = 114). Approximately half of respondents (47%) reported their IM clerkship used EPAs. Among schools accredited after 1977, a higher percentage was associated with having incorporated EPAs (p = 0.03). The Association of American Medical Colleges Core EPAs for Entering Residency (CEPAER) was the most common framework used by Clerkship Directors (CDs) for developing EPAs (55%). Most CDs (56%) used EPAs for both formative and summative assessments, and approximately half of CDs (48%) used EPAs for a portion of the final grade determination. CDs who used EPAs were no more likely to report efforts to ensure the validity of assessment, the use of faculty development, or that written assessments were a valid measure of students’ performance compared to those who did not use EPAs.

Conclusions

Although EPAs have experienced substantial uptake in the IM clerkship and contribute to formative and summative assessment of learners, their use does not appear to be associated with enhanced efforts to obtain validity information.