Portfolios and How to Create One
What is a portfolio?
“An educational (or professional) portfolio is a collection of evidence that
demonstrates the progressive acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudes”.
www.medicine.ufl.edu/3rd_year_clerkship
“An educational portfolio is a very personal collection of artefacts and
reflections about one’s accomplishments, learning, strengths and best works.
The collection is dynamic, ever-growing and ever-changing. It shows a
student’s growth (developmental portfolio), best works (showcase portfolio) or
total output (comprehensive portfolio). It is a tool for reflection on the items
collected, and must be approached from the point of view of the compiler (the
owner of the materials in the collection) or from the point of view of an
assessor (one who looks at and evaluates that compilation of materials).
Wyatt RL, Looper S (2004). So you have to have a portfolio 2 nd edition.
London: Sage Publications Ltd, p2.
How does a portfolio differ from a scrapbook?
A scrapbook is a collection of materials without form or purpose. Organising
the same materials into cohesive whole and reflecting on their value and
contribution to that whole, produces a portfolio.
What is the purpose of a portfolio?
Portfolios are not new but their application to medicine is relatively recent.
We can, therefore, learn a lot from other areas.
Artists may compile different portfolios for different purposes. For instance:
 They may present their work chronologically from the start to show how
their style and technique has developed.
 They may choose to show their best work or choose particular works
and explain why they have been included to showcase a particular
aspect of their work
 They may include everything they have created, perhaps as a chaotic
mix, or perhaps ordered by subject, to give a comprehensive picture of
their work.
 They may submit a collection of their work for an award or competition
that is judged by an assessor
How does this translate for medicine?

You may present chronological evidence of your development as a
doctor, your developing competence or how you have developed a
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service. Questions you may want to consider include: Who am I
becoming? How do I know I have developed and what criteria am I
using to demonstrate this? How does this piece show my development
compared with earlier pieces? What did I learn during this period? Are
there areas I need to focus on?
You may showcase evidence of particular areas of your work, such as
your career decision making, demonstrations of your leadership or
expertise in communicating effectively with others. Questions you may
want to consider include: What do I want to say about me? What have
I achieved? What evidence do I have for this? Who will see this
portfolio? How do I make my portfolio stand out?
You may keep everything as a resource for presenting in other portfolio
formats and order the collection by competence, by duties of a doctor
or not at all.
You may submit part, or all, of your portfolio for assessment. In this
case, it is also important to know the purpose of the assessment, who
will be performing the assessment and whether or not the assessment
criteria are known.
From a service viewpoint, a portfolio may increase your ability to direct your
own learning. It also promotes life long learning by encouraging you to reflect
on your own level of competence, your educational needs and the needs of
your patients and the service.
How do I produce a portfolio?
Having identified why you are producing a portfolio, the following plan may
help its production
C
O
R
P
Collect data or evidence that relates to the purpose of the portfolio
Organise the evidence in a suitable format and remove pieces that
are not relevant
Reflect on particular pieces and why they were chosen
Present your portfolio appropriately
The process is dynamic and may need to be repeated several times. Portfolio
structures such as the Foundation Portfolio may seem prescriptive and
mechanical. However, they simply provide a structure, a filing system to order
your evidence; they do not prescribe the content. This is where creativity
comes in – why did you put that piece of evidence there? What does it mean
to you? How does it contribute to the overall picture you wish to present?
What do I include in my portfolio?
Your portfolio is yours and there is a risk of being too prescriptive about what
to include. The important thing is to remember that your portfolio is not simply
a list of competencies you have achieved; it should also include pieces such
as: a record of your learning, feedback from patients, complaints, significant
incidents, audits and 360 degree feedback. Some ideas on what to include
can be obtained from the following:
A document called Appraisal for Registrars on the section on General
Practice.
http://www.nwpgmd.nhs.uk/genprac/Appraisal%20information%20for%20regis
trars.doc
The portfolio used by those doing a Foundation Programme
http://www.mmc.nhs.uk/pages/foundation/foundation-learning-portfolio
Information about a portfolio based on Continuing Professional Development
from the Royal College of Surgeons
http://www.rcseng.ac.uk/publications/docs/maintaining_performance.html/view
?searchterm=portfolio
A document from the GMC and PMETB on the requirements for full
registration.
http://www.gmcuk.org/education/foundation/DRAFT_OUTCOMES_for_full_registration.pdf
Why did I include this in my portfolio?
This is the stage of reflection, by answering this question, the collection of
evidence becomes a portfolio rather than a scrapbook. Reflection is a key
part of learning, so evidence of reflection is evidence of learning and the
quality of your reflection mirrors the quality of your learning.
Questions you may wish to consider include:
 What is the purpose of this particular competency?
 How would I describe this piece of evidence in relation to this
competency?
 How does this reflection demonstrate my understanding of the
competency, with respect to my knowledge, my skills and my
professional attitudes?
Here are some criteria for determining the quality of a reflective piece to
illustrate how the quality of reflection can be assessed.
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Exemplary: the reflection shows that it has involved a great deal of
thought and creativity in describing how the artefact meets the
competency stated. It is outstanding in its interpretation and
presentation.
Proficient: the reflection uses all the requirements of the competency
and justifies the artefact but there are no dynamics used in the
narrative to show appreciation of the artefact’s uniqueness in meeting
the competency. There are no errors but little interpretation of the
intent of the competency.
Basic: the reflection does address the words of the competency but
does nothing to show how the artefact relates to the intent of the
competency. The material is generally accurate but there are
misinterpretations and some typographical errors.
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Unsatisfactory: the reflection does not address the competency at all.
It is filled with inaccuracies and typographical errors.
How do I present my portfolio?
Having constructed your portfolio and reflected in the artefacts, the next step
is to present your portfolio. This may be as an electronic or hard copy. Here
are some questions to consider when presenting your portfolio as part of a
formal review process.

Who will be evaluating the presentation? Use examples that will
demonstrate your particular skills and satisfy the assessor.
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What criteria will be used to evaluate your portfolio? If possible, obtain
a copy of the evaluation scale. Be meticulous about including all the
required items, meeting or exceeding the required level.
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What is the time frame of the presentation? Do not exceed your time.
Know your material and how it is organised.
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What questions may be asked? How will you respond and what
evidence do you have to back up your response?
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Have you rehearsed the physical logistics of finding materials in your
portfolio quickly and possibly upside down? There is an art to sharing
the information in a portfolio.
How do I create an electronic portfolio?
The principles of creating a portfolio are broadly the same whether you are
creating an electronic or paper portfolio. Having chosen your structure, you
simply create electronic rather than hardcopy files and start to fill them. The
main difference is in the range of material you can include and how it is
stored.
Advantages of an electronic portfolio
 Demonstrates computer and IT skills
 Able to produce interactive demonstration of skills
 Easy to transmit, access and store large amounts of information
 Easy to upgrade and edit
 Wide range of ways of presenting materials and reflections
 Allows cross-referencing
 Portable, sharable and durable
Disadvantages of an electronic portfolio
 Availability and accessibility of hardware and software
 Inadequate storage and back up capacity
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Labour intensive and time consuming to administer
Difficult to establish commonalities
Security concerns and password protection issues
Support for those without IT skills
Before you create an electronic portfolio, ask these questions:
 What is the purpose of the portfolio?
 How will you store the working portfolio?
 How will you publish the formal portfolio?
 How will you guarantee the security and confidentiality of your
information?
 How do I use the software available?
Where can I find out more?
Further information can be obtained from:

Wyatt RL, Looper S (2004). So you have to have a portfolio 2 nd edition.
London: Sage Publications Ltd.
 University of Florida, Educational portfolios
www.medicine.ufl.edu/3rd_year_clerkship
 Indiana University East, Portfolio Guidelines
http://www.iue.edu/departments/doe/portfolio%20guidelines%204-703.pdf#search=%22indiana%20university%20east%20portfolio%20gui
delines%22
 Oklahoma State University, portfolio handbook
http://www.okstate.edu/peu/portfolio_handbook/elementarysecondary/intro
old.htm
 Oklahoma State University, advanced programme
http://www.okstate.edu/peu/portfolioadvanceprogramoverview.htm