Pediatrics Training Program

Grant for Aspiring Pediatricians

(November 2013) The University of Colorado School of Medicine, in collaboration with the Association of American Medical Collegesand three other medical school programs, received a $900,000 grant from the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation to pilot a new training program for aspiring pediatricians.

The Education in Pediatrics Across the Continuum (EPAC) initiative aims to establish a new training model that is based on the trainees’ competency rather than “time in place” to evaluate their preparation.

A model that is competency-based allows earlier differentiation and more individualization of training experiences. The other schools participating in the pilot are the University of California, San Francisco, the University of Minnesota and the University of Utah.

The schools will identify a preliminary group of first-year students this fall, and students for the initial EPAC group will be chosen during their second year. These students will focus on a career in pediatrics and agree to remain at their respective institutions for residency training. Using a framework based on the routine professional activities of pediatrics, or “entrustable professional activities,” the students will advance through the program as they master each competency rather than through the traditional, “fixed-time” model.