Abstract
Background: Entrustable Professional activities (EPAs) are specific tasks or responsibilities within the medical profession that can be entrusted to newly graduated students as they advance through their training and education. Evaluation via EPAs offer a method to implement competency-based assessment comprehensively. Objectives: To determine the mean entrustable professional activities score of the house officers of public sector hospitals in Lahore. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from 01-06-24 to 15-07-24, at a public sector hospital in Lahore. House officers' performance was assessed using a questionnaire which evaluated competencies based on Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs). The questionnaire had two variants: a self-evaluation form for house officers and a supervisor evaluation form. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon Signed rank test. Results: 139 House Officers participated in this research, currently employed at a public sector hospitals in Lahore. The mean age of all house officers was 23.5±0.866 years. Of the 139 participants, 67.6% (n=94) were males and 32.4% (n=45) were females. The descriptive statistics reveal that self-evaluated scores of house officers tend to be higher than supervisor evaluated scores. Moreover, total EPA Wilcoxon analysis reveals that the supervisor's EPA scores for all the 5 domains (Z=X, p<0.001) are lower than the self- evaluated score of house officers in a majority of cases (106 out of 139), higher in a smaller number of cases (33 out of 139), but never equal Conclusion: This research can guide the policymakers to establish a structured feedback system for house officers, encourage the house officers for realistic self-assessment & train the supervisors for constructive feedback. This kind of collaborative assessment culture and & promotion of reflective practice can better enhance the skills of house officers. Moreover, future research is necessary for cross-context comparisons of different institutions in the country. Corresponding Author | Muhammad Awais, email: awaisgill68@gmail.com