Entrustable Professional Activities

EPA 4: Clinical assessment and management, including prescribing

EPA 4

Clinical assessment and management, including prescribing

Clinically assess and manage the ongoing care of patients, including prescribing

This activity requires the ability to:

  • identify and access sources of relevant information about patients
  • obtain patient histories
  • examine patients
  • synthesise findings to develop provisional and differential diagnoses
  • discuss findings with patients, families and/or carers
  • generate a management plan
  • present findings to other health professionals.

Professional practice framework domain

Medical expertise

confident
Ready to perform without supervision

Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision

The trainee will:

  • elicit an accurate, organised, and problem-focused medical history (including collateral history) considering physical, psychosocial, and risk factors
  • perform a full physical examination to establish the nature and extent of problems
  • synthesise and interpret findings from the history and examination to devise the most likely provisional diagnoses via reasonable differential diagnoses
  • assess the severity of problems, the likelihood of complications and clinical outcomes
  • identify and evaluate information relevant to the provisional and differential diagnosis
  • develop management plans based on relevant information, and consider the balance of benefit and harm by taking patients’ personal sets of circumstances into account
  • review medicines regularly to reduce non-adherence, monitor treatment effectiveness, possible side effects, and drug interactions, and cease unnecessary medicines

direction
Requires some supervision

Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity

The trainee may:

  • take patient-centred histories, considering psychosocial factors
  • perform accurate physical examinations
  • recognise and correctly interpret abnormal findings
  • synthesise pertinent information to direct the clinical encounter and diagnostic categories
  • develop appropriate management plans
  • be aware of potential side effects and practical prescription points, such as medication compatibility and monitoring in response to therapies

Communication

confident
Ready to perform without supervision

Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision

The trainee will:

  • communicate openly, listen, and take patients’, families' or carers' concerns seriously, and give them adequate opportunity to question
  • provide information to patients, family, or carers to enable them to make informed decisions from various diagnostic, therapeutic, and management options
  • communicate clearly, effectively, respectfully, and promptly with other health professionals involved in patients’ care
  • discuss and evaluate the risk and benefits of treatment options, making decisions in partnership with patients

direction
Requires some supervision

Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity

The trainee may:

  • anticipate, read, and respond to verbal and nonspeaking cues
  • demonstrate active listening skills
  • communicate patients’ situations to colleagues, including senior clinicians

Quality and safety

confident
Ready to perform without supervision

Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision

The trainee will:

  • demonstrate safety skills including infection control, adverse event reporting, and effective clinical handover
  • recognise and effectively deal with aggressive and violent patient behaviours through appropriate training
  • obtain informed consent before undertaking any investigation or providing treatment, except in emergencies
  • ensure that patients are informed of the material risks associated with any part of the proposed management plans
  • assess indications, contraindications, safety profiles, and potential benefits when prescribing medications

direction
Requires some supervision

Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity

The trainee may:

  • perform hand hygiene and take infection control precautions at appropriate moments
  • take precaution against assaults from confused or agitated patients, and ensure appropriate care of patients
  • document history and physical examination findings, and synthesise with clarity and completeness

Teaching and learning

confident
Ready to perform without supervision

Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision

The trainee will:

  • set defined objectives for clinical teaching encounters, and solicit feedback on mutually agreed goals
  • regularly reflect upon and self-evaluate professional development
  • obtain informed consent before involving patients in teaching activities
  • turn clinical activities into an opportunity to teach, appropriate to the setting

direction
Requires some supervision

Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity

The trainee may:

  • set unclear goals and objectives for self-learning
  • self-reflect infrequently
  • deliver teaching considering learners’ level of training

Research

confident
Ready to perform without supervision

Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision

The trainee will:

  • search for, find, compile, analyse, interpret, and evaluate information relevant to the research subject

direction
Requires some supervision

Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity

The trainee may:

  • refer to guidelines and medical literature to assist in clinical assessments when required
  • demonstrate an understanding of the limitations of the evidence and the challenges of applying research in daily practice

Cultural competence

confident
Ready to perform without supervision

Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision

The trainee will:

  • acknowledge patients’ beliefs and values, and how these might impact on health
  • demonstrate effective and culturally competent communication and care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Māori peoples, and members of other cultural groups
  • use a professional interpreter, a health advocate, or a family or community member to assist in communication with patients
  • use plain language patient education materials, and be culturally and linguistically sensitive

direction
Requires some supervision

Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity

The trainee may:

  • display respect for patients’ cultures, and attentiveness to social determinants of health
  • display an understanding of at least the most prevalent cultures in society, and an appreciation of their sensitivities
  • appropriately access interpretive or culturally focused services

Ethics and professional behaviour

confident
Ready to perform without supervision

Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision

The trainee will:

  • demonstrate professional values including compassion, empathy, respect for diversity, integrity, honesty, and partnership to all patients
  • hold information about patients in confidence, unless the release of information is required by law or public interest
  • assess patients’ capacity for decision making, and involve a proxy decision maker appropriately

direction
Requires some supervision

Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity

The trainee may:

  • demonstrate professional conduct, honesty and integrity
  • consider patients’ decision-making capacity
  • identify patients’ preferences regarding management and the role of families in decision making
  • not advance personal interest or professional agendas at the expense of patient or social welfare
  • consider the efficacy of medicines in treating illnesses, including the relative merits of different pharmacological and nonpharmacological options

Judgement and decision making

confident
Ready to perform without supervision

Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision

The trainee will:

  • apply knowledge and experience to identify patients’ problems
  • make logical, rational decisions, and act to achieve positive patients’ outcomes
  • use a holistic approach to health considering comorbidity, uncertainty, and risk
  • use the best available evidence for the most effective therapies and interventions to ensure quality care
  • evaluate new medicines in relation to their possible efficacy and safety profile for individual patients

direction
Requires some supervision

Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity

The trainee may:

  • demonstrate clinical reasoning by gathering focused information relevant to patients’ care
  • recognise personal limitations, and seek help in an appropriate way when required
  • consider the following factors for all medicines:
    • contraindications
    • cost to patients, families, and the community
    • funding and regulatory considerations
    • generic versus brand medicines
    • interactions
    • risk-benefit analysis

Leadership, management, and teamwork

confident
Ready to perform without supervision

Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision

The trainee will:

  • work effectively as a member of multidisciplinary teams to achieve patients’ best health outcomes
  • demonstrate awareness of colleagues in difficulty, and work within the appropriate structural systems to support them while maintaining patient safety
  • advocate for patients when conflicts occur between the medical team

direction
Requires some supervision

Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity

The trainee may:

  • share relevant information with members of the health care team

Health policy, systems, and advocacy

confident
Ready to perform without supervision

Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision

The trainee will:

  • participate in health promotion, disease prevention and control, screening, and reporting notifiable diseases
  • aim to achieve the optimal cost-effective patient care to allow maximum benefit from the available resources

direction
Requires some supervision

Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity

The trainee may:

  • identify and navigate components of the health system relevant to patients’ care
  • identify and access relevant community resources to support patient care
  • prescribe in accordance with the organisational policy