Exploring the diffusion, application, and scalability of entrustable professional activities beyond medical education: A scoping review protocol
- 1Faculty of Health Science, Ontario Tech University, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
Abstract
Competency-based education (CBE) is gaining prominence in post-secondary education due to its effectiveness in optimizing workforce readiness. However, assessing competence and workforce readiness presents a significant challenge. Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) offer a promising solution by translating competencies into observable, entrustable tasks. While EPAs have been widely adopted in clinical training, their application in non-clinical educational contexts remains minimal. Guided by Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation theory, this scoping review aims to map the diffusion of EPAs beyond medical education and examine their scalability to non-clinical educational contexts, where real-world practice errors may undermine system integrity, educational outcomes, or public trust. This review will progress through five stages following Arksey and O’Malley’s framework. Searches will be conducted across Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, ERIC, and Google Scholar. The research question is: “How have EPAs been adapted, developed and implemented outside of medical education, and what factors influence their adoption in non-clinical educational contexts?” The search will include studies that describe, evaluate, or reflect on the adaptation, development, or implementation of EPAs outside medical education, and exclude studies that only propose, define, or discuss EPAs, focus on medical education, or are not published in English. Titles and abstracts will be reviewed first, followed by the full-text examination of relevant studies. Data will be extracted and summarized to highlight key findings. A two-reviewer protocol will ensure quality during screening and data extraction. The findings from this review may provide practical guidance for faculty, curriculum developers, institutional administration, industry partners, and accrediting or policy bodies involved in curriculum and assessment framework design. Further, the findings may inform the rationale for scaling EPA-based assessment frameworks to non-clinical educational contexts and offer recommendations to guide their adaptation, development, and implementation, addressing CBE assessment challenges and creating a replicable model for future non-clinical program development.
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BibTeX
@article{jagannathan2026exploring,
title = {{Exploring the diffusion, application, and scalability of entrustable professional activities beyond medical education: A scoping review protocol}},
author = {Anjali Jagannathan and Julia Micallef and Otto Sanchez and Adam Dubrowski},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0330549},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0330549},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Exploring the diffusion, application, and scalability of entrustable professional activities beyond medical education: A scoping review protocol
AU - Anjali Jagannathan
AU - Julia Micallef
AU - Otto Sanchez
AU - Adam Dubrowski
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/22
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0330549
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0330549
AB - Competency-based education (CBE) is gaining prominence in post-secondary education due to its effectiveness in optimizing workforce readiness. However, assessing competence and workforce readiness presents a significant challenge. Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) offer a promising solution by translating competencies into observable, entrustable tasks. While EPAs have been widely adopted in clinical training, their application in non-clinical educational contexts remains minimal. Guided by Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation theory, this scoping review aims to map the diffusion of EPAs beyond medical education and examine their scalability to non-clinical educational contexts, where real-world practice errors may undermine system integrity, educational outcomes, or public trust. This review will progress through five stages following Arksey and O’Malley’s framework. Searches will be conducted across Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, ERIC, and Google Scholar. The research question is: “How have EPAs been adapted, developed and implemented outside of medical education, and what factors influence their adoption in non-clinical educational contexts?” The search will include studies that describe, evaluate, or reflect on the adaptation, development, or implementation of EPAs outside medical education, and exclude studies that only propose, define, or discuss EPAs, focus on medical education, or are not published in English. Titles and abstracts will be reviewed first, followed by the full-text examination of relevant studies. Data will be extracted and summarized to highlight key findings. A two-reviewer protocol will ensure quality during screening and data extraction. The findings from this review may provide practical guidance for faculty, curriculum developers, institutional administration, industry partners, and accrediting or policy bodies involved in curriculum and assessment framework design. Further, the findings may inform the rationale for scaling EPA-based assessment frameworks to non-clinical educational contexts and offer recommendations to guide their adaptation, development, and implementation, addressing CBE assessment challenges and creating a replicable model for future non-clinical program development.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -