Elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy as an Entrustable Professional Activity (EPA) for general surgical trainees in Australia

•Discussion of the backgrounds and challenges of using EPAs as an assessment and learning tool in surgery;•Evaluation of the efficiency and safety of elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy in different level of surgical trainees•Specifically, we have shown that early surgical trainees take significantly longer to perform an elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy, with comparable complication rates as their senior counterparts•Discussion the steep learning curve of the procedure in early surgical trainees;•Establishment of elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy as an appropriate EPAs in early surgical trainees