Exploratory Analysis of Entrustable Professional Activities as a Performance Measure During Early Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

Objective. To examine entrustable professional activities (EPAs) as an assessment tool for student pharmacists completing early practice experiences. Methods. Students completed a 2-month practice experience upon conclusion of their first year. Student performance on EPAs was assessed by preceptors and students at the midpoint and conclusion of the experience using a scale that ranged from dependent (1.0) to independent (5.0). Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test assessed for differences between the midpoint and final evaluations on student self-evaluations and between the midpoint and final evaluation on preceptor-student evaluations. Cronbach's ( )alpha assessed reliability of the EPAs. Results. From May to August 2016, 147 students completed a practice experience. Student-self and preceptor-student evaluations at the midpoint and final approximated a median score of 3.0 (IQR 2) and 4.0 (IQR 3), respectively, on EPAs 1-14. Analyses revealed statistically significant increases from midpoint to final evaluation for all constructs on both evaluations. Cronbach's alpha yielded scores of 0.98 for the preceptor evaluations and 0.95 for the student self-evaluation. Conclusion. There was an increase in student performance over time. The EPA statements may be a reliable assessment tool for student performance in pharmacy education.