Could entrustable professional activities improve surgical residency programs in Australia and New Zealand?

Overview: Prominent areas of medical education research over the last 10-15 years include workplace-based assessment, feedback literacy and utility, progression within residencies and training programs and transitions. Transitions have been reviewed including preparation and readiness for the transition, usually marked by a becoming more senior, and enabled by improved levels of performance, which can be established by workplace-based assessments, rather than just time in programs. Competency-based medical education and programmatic assessment principles have been described as crucial, but traditional approaches of time in residencies and programs and high-stakes examinations remain commonplace. The aim of this research was to investigate whether Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) could be used to establish readiness for surgical training, by describing the tasks required of a registrar entering surgical training as constructs for prevocational doctors to work towards. The research findings remain pertinent.