Web-based Portfolio Helps Residents Chart Their Progress
Radiology residency comprises many different learning experiences—interpreting studies with multiple imaging modalities, learning anatomy and disease basics, refining decision-making skills and developing procedural skills. With a demanding and busy schedule, some residents find the idea of tracking their progress to be daunting or beyond their current capability.
 My Portfolio will be accessible to RSNA resident members starting July 1. Choose Resources for Residents from the Education dropdown menu on RSNA.org or go to RSNA.org/myportfolio. The resident's institution must establish an account before the resident can start building a portfolio. For information on establishing an institutional account, call 1-800-381-6660 x7772. |
My Portfolio, a Web-based portfolio to be unveiled by RSNA next month, is designed to help residents more easily log their educational development. Developed by RSNA in collaboration with the education committee of the Association of Program Directors in Radiology (APDR), My Portfolio enables residents and their program directors to document their training activities and development as now required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
Created as a means by which goals, accomplishments and progress are documented during the course of development, portfolios not only confirm experience and competency, but also support reflection on experience. By creating and maintaining a portfolio, the resident is encouraged to actively engage in describing their own behaviors and skills as they mature.
"Effective evaluation of progress throughout one's career is dependent on identifying areas of learning need in intellectual and procedural skills and addressing them in order to maintain competence and proficiency in practice performance," said Beverly P. Wood, M.D., Ph.D., M.S.Ed., chair of the APDR Education Committee. Dr. Wood is a professor of radiology, pediatrics and medical education at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine.
"The portfolio serves as an organic document that provides a location for identification of goals and documenting that they have been reached with a change in competence as a result," Dr. Wood continued. "The resident portfolio incorporates plans for learning and development of skills with documentation and demonstration of personal growth with their achievement."
The portfolio will be accessible to RSNA resident members starting July 1. Choose Resources for Residents from the Education dropdown menu on RSNA.org or go to RSNA.org/myportfolio.
Residents can record information about their learning during residency in sections designed to facilitate easy organization of data:
Case Logs—dated files listing types and numbers of cases interpreted and/or procedures conducted.
Summary Evaluations—summary documents of rotation evaluations uploaded by the resident's program director/program coordinator.
Evidence of Scholarly Activity—resident-entered record of his or her role in preparing/presenting journal articles, grants, lectures, posters and other scholarly work.
Credentials—documentation of resident credentials including medical license and hospital privileges.
Documentation of Educational Activities—resident-entered record of educational activities, self-assessment modules (SAMs), attendance at grand rounds and other conferences, required lectures and self-directed learning activity.
Exam Results—ongoing summary of individual exam results entered by the program director/program coordinator.
Learning Plan—progressive record of specific learning goals and their outcomes.
QA/QI—documentation of the focus, methods and results of conducting or participating in quality assurance or quality improvement project.
Institutional Policies—resident-entered list of institution-specific policies—including patient safety policy and CPR training requirements—with attestations of compliance by the resident's program director and/or program coordinator.
Self-Assessment—resident-entered self-evaluations of knowledge, skills and competence and performance in ACGME competency areas.
User Settings—area where users can tie their portfolio to their institution and indicate individual preferences.
In addition to assessing information entered by their residents, program directors and coordinators can enter structured exam results and summary evaluations of their residents.
The impact of the portfolio is twofold. Residents will be able to assess their growth and progress as physicians, develop a structure for lifelong learning and build a repository of experience and professional documents required by licensing bodies and certification boards. Residents may take components of the portfolio with them into practice as they work to fulfill MOC requirements.
Program directors and coordinators, meanwhile, will be able to better track the development of individual residents and the overall success of their programs. Periodically reviewing each resident's portfolio with him or her will also provide a means of refining training goals, communicating expectations, planning and mentoring.
