Association for Dental Education in Europe

Learning together to improve oral health and quality of life

Working with Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) in dental education: a must for trust?

Sunday, 8th September 2024 - 13:00 to 14:30
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Duration: 

90 minutes

Venue: 

HP4

Register for ADEE 2024 here
Session synopsis: 
Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) are units of professional practice which can be trusted on a certain level to the dental student. In September 2017, the dental school in Nijmegen developed and introduced 14 EPAs. To share our experience and knowledge we presented earlier on working with EPAs in dental education during ADEE Oslo, Berlin and Liverpool, and published in the European Journal of Dental Education.

In various countries, the development of EPAs in dental education has begun, and international interest is rising. During the ADEE Liverpool conference, we engaged in discussions with
multiple academic institutions regarding the integration of EPAs within diverse curricula. As a result, we asked them to determine their interest in initiating an international EPA community, and we received positive feedback.

During this workshop in Leuven, our goal is to present the Dutch approach of working with Entrustable Professional Activities, discuss worldwide experiences, and further enhance
international collaboration

 

Speakers: 

Elske Hissink

PhD candidate “Development of adaptive expertise in an EPA based curriculum”
Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Department of Dentistry

Dr. Elske Hissink is an educationalist and researcher in dental education at Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. 

She has a background in educational sciences and extensive experience in curriculum development, assessment, and innovation in health professions education. Her research focuses on the implementation of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs), entrustment decision-making, and the development of clinical learning environments that support students’ transition towards professional autonomy.

Elske completed her PhD research on adaptive expertise and EPA-based education in 2026 and has been involved in national and international initiatives on EPA implementation in dental education. She is faculty member of the international online EPA course. In addition to her research activities, she contributes to faculty development, educational innovation, and workshops on EPAs and competency-based education.

Wietske Fokkinga

Program leader of revision of the Bachelor curriculum
Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Department of Dentistry

Dr. Wietske Fokkinga is Associate Professor, Leader in Education, course director, and lecturer in undergraduate dental education at Radboud University Medical Center. She has been involved in the development, implementation, and evaluation of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) since 2017. She was co-promotor of the PhD project of Dr. Elske Hissínk on EPAs and adaptive expertise.

Further, she led the revision of the Bachelor of Dentistry curriculum and served for twelve years as Chair of the Educational Committee. Alongside her academic and educational responsibilities, she practices restorative dentistry at the Centre for Complex Dentistry, providing referral-based patient care.

Wietske is faculty member of the international online EPA course and has been involved in national and international initiatives on EPA implementation in dental education, including workshops and lectures on working with entrustment and EPAs in dental education.

Learning Outcomes: 
  1. Participants acquire knowledge of entrustment, working with EPAs and the use of EPAs in the Netherlands;
  2. Participants gain an overview of schools worldwide working with EPAs and their developmental stages;
  3. Participants have insight in supervision levels and ad hoc and summative entrustment decisions.