Dr. Ramesh Mehay
Programme Director (Bradford VTS)
Who Is The e-portfolio for?
 Think…
 ARCP panel : assessment
 Public : clinical governance
 YOU : most importantly to help you reflect and learn
Implications of This
 E-portfolio serves several purposes
 We need to satisfy all stake holders
 Trainees
 The Educational Team – COs/PDs
 The Assessment Team – ARCP, Deanery, PMETB
 The Public – ensuring structure training to produce
safe and competent docs
So, How Do We Do That?
 Your entries have to satisfy that they have “ticked” the
right boxes: satisifies the assessment team and the
public
 Your entries have to be put in a way that is meaningful
for you and that you can refer to in the future if
needed: i.e. it helps YOU
What they say….(RCGP)
 “Above all else the ePortfolio is where the GPStR records
their learning in all its forms and settings. Its prime
function is to be an educational tool that will record
and facilitate the management of the journey of clinical
and personal development through learning.”
 “It might be described as the glue which holds the
curriculum learning and assessment together. “
The Curriculum Headings
 Can tell you which areas you are covering well
 Which areas you need to concentrate on more
 Hence helps you prepare for the AKT
 And makes you more “rounded” when you go out there
on your own
Adding Entries
 Don’t get too hung up about where to put what (ie
what title to log the entry under). Most things go in
the “shared learning log”
 If you’re stuck, consider the “lectures/seminars” or
“professional conversations” subtitles.
 Failing that, put it somewhere, anywhere!
 Remember, it’s about quality of information not
quantity! A trainee with 300 log entries might not have
recorded them to the right depth to make an informed
judgement about them
Types of Things to Add
The things in red below give some idea of what you are like to the reader.
They also help you reflect and develop professionally.
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Assessments (obviously): COTs CBDs etc
OOH session
Lectures/Tutorials
Stuff you’ve read
 Clinical conundrums/dilemmas – eg things from consultations you
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wish to discuss with your trainer later on (PUNs and DENs)
Ethical issues
Dysfunctional consultations
Team working problems
Your feelings
Example
 you could write “felt cheesed off today because blah
blah blah and then the district nurse hassled me about
blah blah blah. Will talk with trainer re: how he
handles this on a day to day basis”
(obviously, stronger words like the F word are not encouraged.
 It’s a tool to help you reflect and develop (although,
yes, it does help inform the assessment process)
 This is not an EXAM!
Shared Log
 Useful storage space
 Helps you get into reflective mode
 Can add in detailed stuff that you might want to refer
to in the future (eg during consultations)
 Some people say they do ‘the reflective stuff’ in their
heads, but this is likely to be at a superficial level.
Mapping it out encourages depth AND informs you of
new links and associations you might not have
previously conceived (trust me on this one).
Not So Helpful Entry
Title
 “migraine tutorial”
Things you learned:
 “diagnosis, treatment guidelines, referrals,”
What will you do differently
 “Manage according to set guidelines”
SATISFIES PANEL/PUBLIC
SERVES LITTLE PURPOSE FOR YOU
A better way
Title
“migraine tutorial”
Things you learned:
 “diagnosis, treatment guidelines, referrals,”
 “Must remember that hi dose aspirin (900mg) with
metoclopropramide can stop an acute attack if taken early and is a
simple measure”
What will you do differently
 “Manage according to MIPCA protocol guidelines, and encourage the
aspirin regime when someone presents early”
 SATISFIES PANEL/PUBLIC
 SATISFIES YOU : eg the next time a patient comes in with migraine but
a) you can’t remember who wrote the protocol and where it is and b) if
you forget the “aspirin regime”  you can search for it
Recording entries – a summary
So, there are TWO main things you need to enter for
each learning activity:
General stuff
 to show the breadth of what was covered
 Satisfies the ARCP panels/assessment process
Specific stuff
 to highlight the key messages for you
 Helps you in your continuing professional development
Searching the e-portfolio
 Easy peasy
 Put in keywords into the search box on the “Shared
Log” page
 Click search
But, For This To Work…
 You need to use good headings
 Be Concise
 Include Key words
eg “Migraine tutorial”
eg “RCA: oral contraceptive pill”
Don’t forget to make use of your
PDP
 Shared log entries in which you have describe some tasks
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
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you need to do can be sent to you PDP section
What’s the advantage? Instead of trawling through all the
log entries to see what needs to be done, the PDP section
collates it all
You can then tick them off when done
Makes organisational management (and thus your life)
easier
Also maximises learning
One snag: for it to work, trainer/supervisor has to have
read entries too; you’ll find a “submit to PDP” box once
both ticks show in the learning log i.e. you have shared,
trainer has read
OOH sessions
 Use the COGPED OOH work booklet to help add
structure to an OOH session (available on Deanery
and Bradford websites: www.bradfordvts.co.uk )
 Then transcribe the important bits to the e-portfolio
 Record under “shared learning log” section, subtitle
“OOH”
Evidence
 Remember, numbers are the MINIMUM
 This means you should have done more than that as:
 CBD and COT are meant to be happening on a
weekly/fortnightly basis
 No good saying at the 4m ARCP panel meeting “we’ve
done 4 and planning to do the next two in the next 2
months”. They want to see at least 6 by the 4m stage.
 You may need to talk to your trainer/PM/hospital
consultant to devise an organisational process to make
this happen.
How Often?
 Continue to visit the e-portfolio regularly.
 Why not open it up just before you start your
consultations so you can add to it seamlessly.
 For those in hospital posts: why not just have a go once
a week……. It will become habitual , you’ll end up
reflecting naturally and probably end up WANTING to
log into more often. You’re never too far from a PC
connected to the net – so you can even do it daily if
you’re organised and motivated enough.
Summary
 If you want to add something, do! Don’t worry where.
 The content should mean something to you
 Add it in your own natural style: makes it more
believable too and gives a more accurate impression of
you
 Visit it regularly to make it useful
 Log your OOH sessions
E-portfolio Pearls – how to start loving the eportfolio and making the most of it.
 An e-portfolio guide (not the mechanical guide from
the RCGP) on www.bradfordvts.co.uk (click nMRCGP
 eportfolio )
 It’s meant to show you how you can use the e-portfolio
in a way to help you (ie as an educational tool) as well
as satisfying the ARCP panel
 It will also detail some common troubleshooting
problems and mistakes to help you avoid falling into
the same trap
 And it’s dead easy to read