Resident education in radiology in Europe including entrustable professional activities: results of an ESR survey

Entrustable professional activity (EPA) is a tool for comprehensively evaluating the level of confidence in resident performances across various competencies in medicine. The application of and attitudes towards EPAs in radiology across the European Society of Radiology (ESR) national institutional member societies is still to be determined. An online survey was conducted among ESR national institutional member societies to assess the current use of EPAs and other resident assessment forms among different countries. Although the primary focus was on the use of EPAs, additional questions also addressed the adherence of training programs to the European Training Curriculum (ETC), other methods of continuous assessment, and examinations. A total of 65 responses were received from 38 countries (81% response rate among national institutional member societies). EPAs were being used in radiology in 21% of countries and planned to be used in 26%. Most responders considered EPAs suitable for radiology and, regarding the future, preferred European-level guidelines on EPAs over national or institutional levels. The majority (63%) of national training programs were reported to be similar to or following the content of the ETC, and the majority (95%) of countries rated the requirements of the European Training Curriculum (ETC) to be adequate. In conclusion, EPAs are beginning to be used in radiology resident training programs across Europe, and their use is expected to increase. There seems to be a positive attitude toward using EPAs in radiology and toward a common European framework. Critical relevance statement As a result of this survey, we found positive attitudes towards using entrustable professional activities (EPA) in radiology among the institutional member societies of the European Society of Radiology (ESR). Key points • Twenty-one percent of national member societies use entrustable professional activities (EPA) in radiology. • There is a positive attitude toward using EPAs in radiology. • Majority of respondents preferred a common European framework for EPAs. • Majority of radiology training curricula adhere to the European Training Curriculum (ETC). GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13244-023-01489-4.