Development of entrustable professional activities framework for clinical microbiology residency: a national multi-step consensus using modified Delphi study.

Abstract

Background: While competency-based education has gained prominence in preparing professionals for practice, clinical microbiology residency programs face a challenge in defining specific, observable tasks that align with Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs). The current lack of a standardized set of EPAs tailored to clinical microbiology creates a gap in assessing learner proficiency and educational outcomes.

Objectives: This study aims to develop and validate a set of specific EPAs for clinical microbiology using a multi-step national expert consensus-building process.

Methods: This study was conducted in Egypt, involving experts from various medical schools across the country. As the first step, a thorough literature review was undertaken to identify potential EPAs pertinent to clinical microbiology residency programs. Then, evaluation of EPAs for quality and structure using EQual rubric involved five experts in medical education and clinical microbiology, resulting in the confirmation of relevant EPAs. Subsequently, three rounds of the modified Delphi method were employed, engaging ten clinical microbiology experts from various medical schools. Simultaneously, content validity was assessed based on these ratings. Participants also determined the appropriate year of entrustment for each EPA item, and an 80% Validity index agreement threshold was calculated to ensure consensus among participant groups.

Results: The use of the literature review and initial expert evaluation using EQual rubric confirmed 39 out of the initially identified 43 EPAs. Following the modified Delphi method rounds, 16 EPAs gained acceptance, signifying their relevance and appropriateness for clinical microbiology residency training. These EPAs were categorized into key areas, including preanalytical testing and quality assurance, microbiological techniques and diagnostics, infection control and safety practices, clinical leadership and teamwork, research and development, and laboratory management and communication.

Conclusions: This study developed 16 EPAs for clinical microbiology residency programs. These EPAs were developed using a robust multi step validation study. This provides a further step towards competency-based postgraduate training in clinical microbiology.

Clinical trial number: Not applicable.