The need to address racial and ethnic inequities in the care of children and ensure all pediatricians are trained to actively be anti-racist in their delivery of care is critical, and yet deficiencies exist in our training programs to meet these needs Dr. Ndidi Unaka from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and 6 co-authors from around the country came together with the help of the American Board of Pediatrics to revise an existing entrustable professional activity (EPA) established in 2013 that called for residents to “apply public health principles and quality improvement methods to improve population health.”
For those unfamiliar with the term “EPA,” it reflects observable, routine activities that can be performed without being supervised by a general pediatrician or pediatric subspecialist. In a special article being early released this week (10.1542/peds.2021-054604), authors describe the methods underlying the revision of this EPA, which now includes: “Use population health strategies and quality improvement methods to promote health and address racism, discrimination, and other contributors to inequities among pediatric populations.” The authors don’t just introduce this newly revised EPA, but also provide ways it can be used to build curricula in multiple rotations throughout residency and fellowship training and how to assess achievement of this EPA in a variety of different rotations. Importantly, the authors point out how this EPA needs to extend across the continuum of lifelong learning and not just sit at the Graduate Medical Education level so that ongoing improvement and professional development in this important area can be achieved throughout one’s career as a pediatrician. Please link to this article and consider the programs, professional activities, and learning sessions offered by the AAP and the ABP. The goal is for all of us to have competency in this EPA , work together to improve equity in the care we deliver to all children and families.
