The lack of trusted methods to assess readiness for residency inspired Adina L. Kalet, MD, and her team at NYU School of Medicine to develop Night-OnCall, a competency-based training module that uses standardized patients, nurses, and actual attending physicians to simulate the experience of a hectic night on call. Launched in spring 2016, the pilot program has so far been used to assess the “entrustability” of both three- and four-year medical students in their final year with a host of clinical tasks and responsibilities, commonly referred to as “entrustable professional activities” or EPAs. “We built the experiences to measure all 13 core EPAs of the Association of American Medical Colleges, either across many cases or within one case, depending on the task,” explains Dr. Kalet, director of medical education research, program for medical education and technology.

“We believe that the Night-OnCall simulation will provide a reliable means of assessing preparedness for residency.”—Thomas S. Riles, MD
Associate Dean for Medical Education and Technology

What have they discovered? There were no competency differences between student groups, save for one exception: four-year students were better at managing clinical notes. “Admittedly, we’re assessing a small sample of students,” says collaborator Thomas S. Riles, MD, associate dean for medical education and technology. “But with further validation, we believe that the Night-OnCall simulation will provide a reliable means of assessing preparedness for residency that can address all 13 EPAs, identify students in need of remediation, and serve as a guide for curriculum development with respect to the EPAs.”