Educational priorities of students in the entrustable professional activity era

Background : The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) guidelines on the entrustable professional activities (EPA s) expected of graduating medical students were recently published. Although perceptions of educators, residents and programme directors have been described, the voice of senior medical students is lacking. Methods : A single-institution cross-sectional study of senior medical students was performed. Student perceptions were collected and compared with: (1) national guidelines (i.e. the 13 newly developed undergraduate EPA s); 2) resident expectations (i.e. through comparison with a recently published survey from > 28 000 residents); and (3) institutional objectives. Descriptive statistics were performed. Results : A total of 113 students participated. The top three EPA-based educational priorities were 'recognising a patient requiring urgent/emergent care' (EPA 10), 'performing procedures of a physician' (EPA 12) and 'collaborating as an interprofessional' (EPA 9). Over 80 per cent of students rated 'managing time efficiently' and 'communicating around care transitions' as very important pre-internship skills. Of the institutional objectives, 87 per cent rated 'recognising critically ill patients' and 'knowing when to ask for help' as the most important pre-internship skills. Conclusions : Although the emphasis on knowing when to ask for help and communication around care transitions differed somewhat across stakeholders, educational priorities were shared by students, residents, educators and institutional objectives. These preliminary data support national assessments of perceptions and achievements of senior medical students to guide residency readiness in the EPA era.