Using mobile technology in assessment of entrustable professional activities in undergraduate medical education

Abstract

Background The adoption of competency-based medical education requires objective assessments of a learner’s capability to carry out clinical tasks within workplace-based learning settings. This study involved an evaluation of the use of mobile technology to record entrustable professional activity assessments in an undergraduate clerkship curriculum. Approach A paper-based form was adapted to a mobile platform called eClinic Card. Students documented workplace-based assessments throughout core clerkship and preceptors confirmed accuracy via mobile phones. Assessment scores for the 2017–2018 academic year were collated and analyzed for all core rotations, and preceptors and students were surveyed regarding the mobile assessment experience. Evaluation The mobile system enabled 80 students and 624 preceptors to document 6850 assessment submissions across 47 clinical sites over a 48-week core clerkship curriculum. Students’ scores demonstrated progressive improvement across all entrustable professional activities with stage-appropriate levels of independence reported by end of core clerkship. Preceptors and students were satisfied with ease of use and dependability of the mobile assessment platform; however, students felt quality of formative coaching feedback could be improved. Reflection Our preliminary evaluation suggests the use of mobile technology to assess entrustable professional activity achievement across a core clerkship curriculum is a feasible and acceptable modality for workplace-based assessment. The use of mobile technology supported a programmatic assessment approach. However, meaningful coaching feedback, as well as faculty development and support, emerged as key factors influencing successful adoption and usage of entrustable professional activities within an undergraduate medical curriculum.

The “Growth Instant Feedback Tool (GIFTool)” Workplace-Based Assessment of Entrustable Professional Activity Performance: Preliminary Evidence for Validity

“…Although we emphasized in faculty/resident development sessions that supervisors should only assess domains they directly observed, it is possible that some faculty assessed some domains they did not observe. Additionally, while we used the GIFTool exclusively in the outpatient setting, it certainly could be used in inpatient settings as has been demonstrated by other UME EPA-related WBA studies (7,8,14).…”

“…The AAMC Core Entrustable Professional Activities (EPA) Toolkit (2) noted that new assessment tools, especially Workplace-Based Assessments (WBAs), will be needed to assess students' progress. Recently, several studies have explored the feasibility of WBAs in Undergraduate Medical Education (3)(4)(5)(6)(7).…”

La aplicación electrónica “MedAPProc” para la evaluación formativa en el internado médico

“…A las facultades y escuelas de medicina se les demanda hacer esfuerzos para integrar las herramientas tecnológicas en sus planes de estudio de la formación médica. Al no hacerlo, los educadores médicos se arriesgan a producir una generación de clínicos poco preparados para las cambiantes realidades de la práctica médica 2 .…”

Usability Methods and Attributes Reported in Usability Studies of Mobile Apps for Health Care Education: Scoping Review (Preprint)

“…Table 3 provides an overview of the usability attributes identified in the included studies. Reports (references) Distribution, n (%) Usability attribute [24][25][26][27][28][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][39][40][41][42][44][45][46][47][48]50,52,[54][55][56][57]59,60,[62][63][64][65][66][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81]83,84,[86]…”