Research ArticleAACP SPECIAL REPORT

Core Entrustable Professional Activities for New Pharmacy Graduates

Stuart T. Haines, Amy L. Pittenger, Scott K. Stolte, Cecilia M. Plaza, Brenda L. Gleason, Alexander Kantorovich, Marianne McCollum, Jennifer M. Trujillo, Debra A. Copeland, Matthew M. Lacroix, Quamrun N. Masuda, Peter Mbi, Melissa S. Medina and Susan M. Miller
American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education February 2017, 81 (1) S2; DOI: https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe811S2

PREAMBLE

The 2015-16 Academic Affairs Standing Committee of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) was charged by then AACP President Cynthia Boyle to identify the entrustable professional activities (EPAs) for pharmacy graduates as they transition from completion of advanced pharmacy practice experiences into practice and postgraduate opportunities such as residency training. The process for developing the draft EPAs was described in detail in the report of the 2015-16 Academic Affairs Standing Committee.1 The 2016-17 Academic Affairs Standing Committee was charged by AACP President Joseph DiPiro with the following: (1) Compile comments and input from a broad range of stakeholders regarding the draft EPAs from the 2015-16 Committee (including comments from District meetings) and complete final edits to the document for submission to the November 2016 AACP Board of Directors meeting; (2) Develop potential uses and applications of EPA statements in pharmacy education; and (3) Create a roadmap for implementation of EPAs across the member schools and colleges. The 2016-17 Academic Affairs Committee Standing Committee Report will contain mapping to the CAPE 2013 Educational Outcomes and the JCPP Patient Care Process as well as recommendations to the AACP for broad implementation.2,3

Entrustable professional activities are units of professional practice or descriptors of work, defined as specific tasks or responsibilities that trainees are entrusted to perform without direct supervision once they have attained sufficient competence. 4,5 EPAs are independently executable, observable, and measurable in their process and outcome. 4,5 Core EPAs for New Pharmacy Graduates are discrete, essential activities and tasks that all new pharmacy graduates must be able to perform without direct supervision upon entering practice or postgraduate training. These statements were labeled as “core” to denote that these EPAs are expected of all graduates independent of practice setting. They serve as a baseline, not a ceiling.

There were several points of clarification that arose from feedback received from stakeholders. Three key concepts apply across all core domain statements and example supporting tasks: professionalism, self-awareness, and communication. It is assumed that professionalism must permeate every EPA statement. Without professionalism none of these tasks would be possible. Further, no single task can comprise the entire construct of professionalism. For the same reason, self-awareness and communication skills are inherent within and essential to all EPA core domain statements. The core EPA domain statements are intended to be evaluated. Example supporting tasks offer suggestions to programs on the component parts of each EPA domain. Stakeholders may choose to supplement or modify the tasks to align with programmatic or regional practice.

The final EPA Statements for New Pharmacy Graduates are presented in Appendix 1. A glossary is provided in Appendix 2 to help clarify bolded terms within the EPA Statements.

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