CBME in Surgical Foundations | Department of Surgery | School of Medicine | Queen's University

Entrustable Performance Assessments (EPAs) for Surgical Foundations

Surgical Foundations consists of two stages of Competency Based Medicine; Transition to Discipline and Foundations of Discipline. While being a part of the Surgical Foundations program, residents will be expected to be assessed and deemed entrustable on 16 Entrustable Performance Assessments (EPAs).

There are a total of seven EPAs for Transition to Discipline and nine EPAs for Foundations of Discipline, all of which have specific goals and objectives outline within them. All of these EPAs and milestones which make up the EPAs have been determined by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Below you will find a list of all of the EPAs that are required during each stage and an outline of what is required in order to fully achieve each one at Queen's University.

Tranistion to Discipline (TTD)

EPA D1: Performing the pre-operative preparation of patients for basic surgical procedures
EPA D2: Recognizing and initiate early managment for critically ill surgical patients
EPA D3: Documenting clinical encounters
EPA D4: Demonstrating handover technique
EPA D5: Demonstrating the ability to function in the operating room
EPA D6: Repairing simple skin incisions/lacerations
EPA D7: Managing tubes, drains and central lines

Foundations to Discipline (FOD)

EPA F1: Providing inital management for critically ill surgical patients
EPA F2: Providing initial management for trauma patients
EPA F3: Assessing and performing risk optimization for pre-operative patients in preparation for surgery
EPA F4: Providing patient education and informed consent in preparation for surgical care
EPA F5: Demonstrating the foundational aspects for surgical procedures
EPA F6: Participating in surgical procedures
EPA F7: Managing uncomplicated post-operative surgical patients
EPA F8: Managing post-operative patients with complications
EPA F9: Supervising junior learners in the clinical setting

For a better understanding of what an EPA is and what a milestone is, please click on the link below.

Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada - EPAs and Milestones