Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition Entrustable Professional Activities: Development of an Assessment Tool and Curricular Resources

Background:Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) are critical activities performed by medical professionals, which can be observed and assessed. Adding on to common EPAs for all pediatric subspecialty trainees, specialty-specific EPAs for pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutritional fellowship were developed by the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) EPA Task Force.Methods:Having developed specialty-specific EPAs, building EPA assessments is the next logical step, as EPAs are included under a larger umbrella of competency-based assessment. Thus, the NASPGHAN EPA Task Force and Training Committee collaborated on an assessment tool and associated curricular resources to aid in tracking trainees' progression to entrustment within individual EPAs and readiness for independent practice.Results:This manuscript reports the development of an EPA assessment tool, including guiding principles and the theory behind the assessment tool, with a focus on simple, meaningful assessments that can provide crucial performance feedback to trainees. In addition, curricular resources were developed, based on the assessment tool, to support training. Ultimately, it is the hope of the NASPGHAN EPA Task Force and Training Committee that this tool can aid training programs in providing formative feedback for trainees, and can be used by training programs and clinical competency committees for summative evaluation.