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Entrustable professional activities in dental education: a scoping review

British Dental Journal volume 234, pages 171–176 (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

Background Competency-based education has led to the introduction of entrustable professional activities (EPAs) in health sciences education. EPAs are assessment tools that serve to certify a trainee's preparedness to conduct a given clinical activity.

Objective Given its modest introduction into dental education, we sought to examine the current situation of EPAs in our field and identify possible barriers and facilitators. This review aimed to summarise evidence about EPA introduction in dental education programmes.

Data sources A review of articles published between January 2005 and December 2021 was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews methodology in three databases (PubMed, Cochrane and Embase).

Data selection Keywords were 'entrustable professional activity' OR 'entrustable professional activities' AND 'dentistry' OR 'dental education'.

Data extraction Eligibility criteria targeted papers published in English describing dental education EPA.

Data synthesis Ten publications were selected: six reported on new EPAs, three discussed their relevance for dental education and one article described a process for developing validated EPAs. EPAs focused on clinical examination, health promotion, treatment planning, pain and/or anxiety control and topics related to a specific discipline or care procedures.

Conclusion Topics covered by EPAs described in our study adequately reflect the specificities of today's dental professional. The benefits of EPAs will ensure tomorrow's dentists consistently meet societal expectations.

Key points

  • Recently implemented in dental training curricula, entrustable professional activities (EPAs) are commonly used in medical education.

  • EPAs are part of a competency-based approach and refer to international competency frameworks in dentistry.

  • Benefits of EPAs are standardisation of assessment practices and results; and certifying trainees' skills to meet societal expectations.

  • Several EPAs have been developed for dental education, but their use is very occasional.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Strasbourg, Faculté de Chirurgie Dentaire, 8 Rue Sainte Elisabeth, 67000 Strasbourg, France; Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, Pôle de Médecine et Chirurgie Bucco-Dentaires, 1 Place de l’Hôpital, 67000 Strasbourg, France

    Claire Ehlinger & Marion Strub

  2. Département de Médecine de Famille et Médecine D’urgence, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, 2900 Boulevard Édouard-Montpetit, Montréal, Québec, H3C 1J7, Canada

    Nicolas Fernandez

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Contributions

Claire Ehlinger, Nicolas Fernandez and Marion Strub contributed to the discussions surrounding preparation and critical review of this article. Claire Ehlinger and Marion Strub developed the database search protocol.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marion Strub.

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The authors declare that they have no potential conflicts of interest due to financial and personal relationships that could potentially bias their work.

Ethics approval was not required because this study was based on the analysis of previously published scientific articles.

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Ehlinger, C., Fernandez, N. & Strub, M. Entrustable professional activities in dental education: a scoping review. Br Dent J 234, 171–176 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-023-5503-8

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