Entrustable professional activities for medical students and graduates of Austrian medical universities : Results of a national development and harmonization process.
Paul Zajic, Carolin Herzog, Martina Zöbl, Erwin Petek, Ursula Kiechl-Kohlendorfer, Bernd Lamprecht, Katharina Steininger-Kaar, Wolfgang Weninger, Regina Roller-Wirnsberger
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) translate competency-based medical education into observable clinical work and can clarify expectations at the undergraduate-postgraduate transition. In Austria, undergraduate EPA implementation has been heterogeneous, limiting transparency and comparability across medical universities.
Methods: We conducted a national, multiphase development and harmonization process to define EPAs for students entering and completing the clinical practical year (KPJ). International EPA frameworks were identified by literature review and mapped to the Austrian Clinical Learning Objectives Catalogue (KLK). Draft EPAs were formulated using descriptors recommended by the Association for Health Professions Education (AMEE), linked to CanMEDS roles, assessment profiles and supervision levels and validated through a two-round national consultation process with expert groups from all Austrian public medical universities/faculties. Consensus was predefined as ≥ 75% agreement.
Results: The process yielded a nationally endorsed set of 11 EPAs covering key tasks along the patient-care continuum, including history taking, clinical examination, clinical reasoning, diagnostics, common procedures, recognition of emergencies and first measures, evidence-based treatment planning, documentation and interprofessional communication, patient safety/quality and prevention counselling. Assessment profiles prioritized workplace-based assessment (e.g., Mini-CEX, DOPS, OSCE components) supported by structured feedback and complementary approaches (e.g., handovers, ward rounds, multisource feedback). Expected supervision levels were specified for KPJ entry and completion, with progression from predominantly direct supervision to mainly indirect supervision, differentiated by EPA.
Conclusion: Austria's harmonized undergraduate EPA catalogue endorsed by all public Austrian medical universities/faculties provides a practice-oriented national qualification profile that can support curricular mapping, more comparable workplace-based assessment, mobility between Austrian universities, and clear expectations for students and supervisors.
期刊介绍：
The Wiener klinische Wochenschrift - The Central European Journal of Medicine - is an international scientific medical journal covering the entire spectrum of clinical medicine and related areas such as ethics in medicine, public health and the history of medicine. In addition to original articles, the Journal features editorials and leading articles on newly emerging topics, review articles, case reports and a broad range of special articles. Experimental material will be considered for publication if it is directly relevant to clinical medicine. The number of international contributions has been steadily increasing. Consequently, the international reputation of the journal has grown in the past several years. Founded in 1888, the Wiener klinische Wochenschrift - The Central European Journal of Medicine - is certainly one of the most prestigious medical journals in the world and takes pride in having been the first publisher of landmarks in medicine.
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