RCOG ePortfolio – the Trainee Perspective

Marion BeardST4, Royal Glamorgan Hospital

ST Induction Day, 14th September 2012

Session goals

• To introduce ePortfolio• To identify potential issues• To give tips for ease of use• To give some motivation?

RCOG View

http://www.rcog.org.uk/education-and-exams/eportfolio

WHY?• As a record of clinical / surgical / ethical /

management / teaching experiences• As a tool to record our reflections on these• The new face of the surgical log?• As primary means of WPA• As back-up for paper evidence• To allow access to our evidence of

learning by our supervisors• Because we have to........

Access

• Same platform as Foundation ePortfolio

• NHS Scotland• via nhseportfolios.org (unique login)• via RCOG homepage

Navigation and interface issues– Intuition less helpful than persistence– Inflexible folders and subfolders (eg.

library)–Slow linking to curriculum /

assessments / PDPs.

Recommendation: plan your ePortfolio

Planning

• Link with paper portfolio– Same headings for ease of use– Update regularly

• Link with pocket portfolio– But ePortfolio not intuitive – filing

of evidence needs to be planned.

• Personal Library– Helpful back up of eg. Certificates of Attendance,

Courses, feedback• General Log

– Detailed back up of any paper log • Reflections

– Clinical situations, mistakes, successes, ethical issues, team and communication issues...

• Meaningful file names• compress / consider size of file• when storing, file wisely• multiple back-ups.

– New job/supervisor....1. Induction and Appraisal

(Forms / Meetings)

Supervisor issues

2. Educational agreement (Profile / Agreements and Guidelines)

Supervisor issues continued....

1. PDP (Reflection)

2. Work – Based AssessmentsCBD / OSAT / CEx / TO1

Reflection on reflection

Reflection on reflection

“Competent practitioners usually know more than they can say. They exhibit a kind of knowing in practice, most of which is tacit... Indeed practitioners themselves often reveal a capacity for reflection on their intuitive knowing in the midst of action and sometimes use this capacity to cope with unique, uncertain, and conflicted situations of practice.”

Donald Schon (1983)

Reflections can be around:

• your own, or possibly others’ (with care!) practice

• complex situations including systems• mistakes • successes• the memorable patient• insights unexpectedly gained.

Reflections can:

• Improve your behaviour / response / ability to anticipate next time: management of change and uncertainty

• Defuse frustration• Help you understand root causes• Identify audit / research / management topics• Make you feel better• Help you through ARCP!

“ .... then the practitioner may surface and criticize his initial understanding of the phenomenon, construct a new description of it, and test the new description.”

Donald Schon (1983)

References• http://www.rcog.org.uk/files/rcog-corp/uploaded-files/CPD_ePortfolio_Manual.pdf• http://www.rcog.org.uk/education-and-exams/eportfolio• Schon, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner. Arena, Philadelphia.

Thank you