More than just a tick box?

There seems to be suddenly a great amount of discussion amongst doctors about e-portfolios and how they can be used in training and in capturing the impact of professional development. This is in part because all GPs are now required to create an electronic record of their competence, indeed I understand that regrettably this requirement is being viewed as so onerous that a number of GP’s have brought forward their retirement plans!


The debate raises some interesting questions about the educational value of what is characterised as the e-portfolio approach. It is of course the case that the judgements being made are in relation to the two e-portfolios that are predominantly being used. One is the e-portfolio developed by NHS Scotland, which is being used by a number of other health professions and the other is one was specifically developed for GPs.

The questions being asked are relevant not only to e-portfolio systems themselves also to the competency assessment systems in which they operate.

• Is this just a tick box exercise in which no qualitative judgements are made?

• How is high quality feedback encouraged and enabled?

• To what extent does the portfolio encourage real development and progression?

• Is it good enough just to be competent?

• Can a holistic approach to professional development and practice be encouraged by easily linking together related learning and practice?

• Does it pass the ‘three click’ rule and is it accessible from mobile devices?

All these are issues that have been raised by users of the existing systems and I do not know the e-portfolios well enough, to make a judgement on the validity of the comments that have been made. What I do know is that we have addressed some of these questions in solutions we have developed.

Our sites positively encourage progression for example radiographers can become recognised as consultant and advanced practitioners based on the quality of evidence they supply; there are effective ways for feedback to be requested and then seamlessly attached to the relevant evidence that is created; all sites pass the three click rule and are accessible from all mobile devices and related evidence can easily be linked together.

What I also know is that effective competency assessment cannot be delivered solely by an e-portfolio. It has to be part of a culture of effective and meaningful professional development. One of the big advantages of an e-portfolio is that it makes it easier to make judgements about the quality of the assessments that are taking place because there is greater transparency. In other words it is possible, for those with permissions to do so, to check that it is more than a tick box exercise.