Guide for the design and validation of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs)

Abstract

Competency-based Education (CBE) or outcome-based education has spread worldwide in recent decades. Competencies must be inferred from the observable performances of students or residents; this observation provides the basis for their assessment to ensure that these competencies have been acquired. CBE should ensure that the most relevant ones are achieved by the end of the training period. In this context, Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs)- based curricula have been developed as a more explicit and transparent way of operationalizing training outcomes. EPAs concept implies a programmatic assessment that considers a progressive process of decreasing supervision as the student or resident becomes more competent in each of the selected activities.

This article aims to provide a guide and orientation in Spanish language, facilitating the methodological design of undergraduate and postgraduate training programs. The guide includes the definition of EPAs and their characteristics, a description of the developmental pr