Curriculum development for postgraduate training with entrustable professional activities

Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) are frequently implemented in training after licensing, in the postgraduate specialist stage of training. In this phase, trainees and supervisors must navigate the unique challenge of balancing patient care (service) and ongoing training (education). Opportunistic learning amid patient care represents a significant part of this stage of training. In this context, EPAs can play a pivotal role in scaffolding the service–education relationship and help anchor how best to operationalize workplace-based assessment. Specialty training can be highly variable across clinical settings and has many unpredictable elements. That may complicate training but it has also the benefit of building contextual agility and contextual competence.

This chapter aims to support readers and educators who are interested in building an EPA-based specialty training program. It highlights the key issues to be considered including (a) EPAs as organizational units for curriculum design, (b) things to think about in the creation of workplace curricula, (c) assessment considerations in an EPA-based postgraduate training program, (d) trainee experiences in postgraduate EPA-based curricula, (e) the role of interprofessional team members and patients in a postgraduate training program, and (f) challenges of EPA-based curricula in specialist training.