Resident Portfolio General Information and Instructions

What is a portfolio?

A portfolio consists of individual entries that demonstrate the your abilities within each of the thirteen skill areas listed below. An entry is a collection of documents that reflects actual work within each skill area, and may include chart documentation, laboratory or radiology records, literature searches, and various other relevant data. Also included in an entry is a self-evaluation cover letter. It is an opportunity for you to explain how the entry demonstrates your competency, and to clarify, acknowledge, or justify any potential shortcomings of the entry.

How do I complete a portfolio entry?

Examine the portfolio entry list. It is a list of important skills identified as necessary to competently practice general psychiatry.

Talk to faculty members on your rotations and discuss the skills that can be particularly well demonstrated within the rotation. Also examine the portfolio entry list by rotation (in the residency program office) to identify good opportunities within specific rotations.

Review the description of the entry that you are considering and select a case that best demonstrates your skill. Each case you select must be from the current academic year. Try to select a particularly challenging or interesting case, or one in which your skills were maximized. The scoring rubric will guide you in what is considered important at each level of performance. The scale builds on itself, so important considerations mentioned at one level apply to the next level as well.

In most entries you will need to submit actual documents from your work, such as psychiatric evaluations, laboratory data, radiology records, and progress notes. You may also want to provide articles or selections of text from literature searches. You will need to select the appropriate documents and photocopy or otherwise reproduce them for inclusion in the entry.

Start the entry with a cover letter. This document is a critical part of an entry, and is an exercise in self-assessment. This letter explains to the rater what you are submitting and how well it illustrates your competence. A good letter briefly summarizes the case, provides evidence of its complexity, and notes how your management of the case may have gone beyond a conventional approach. In general it should outline your thought processes as you managed each case. The cover letter should identify the skill, explain why the documentation was selected, specify what portions are your work or that of others, and summarize how all the documentation collectively demonstrates your competence. Include the cover letter with the other documents you are submitting. Provide page numbers if needed for clarity. It is important not to identify yourself or your training year in the cover letter—see “what happens to the entries” below.

In addition to the narrative cover letter described above, please complete a second page addressing how the entry reflects your achievement within the six ACGME General Competencies. This may be completed by typing or writing within the space provided (access this page by clicking on this link:Cover letter page 2). Alternatively, you may choose to directly address the General Competencies by discussing them in the narrative portion on page one of the cover letter. A description of the Core Competencies as they apply to psychiatry may be found at this link: Psychiatry Core Competencies.

As of the 2003-2004 academic year, residents must complete either two or six portfolio entries. The deadline for submission is May 31, but they may be submitted at any point during the year. All residents must complete a biopsychosocial formulation each year. PGY-I residents must select one other entry from the list for the second required entry. PGY-II through PGY-IV residents must submit a biopsychosocial formulation as well as a psychodynamic psychotherapy entry. They are then free to select an additional four entries from the list for a total of six.

What happens to the entries?

Before submitting an entry be sure to obscure all patient and resident identifiers with black ink. Two board-certified psychiatrists in the community will rate the entries. Because the raters have no involvement in the cases themselves, and because patient and resident identifiers are obscured, potential bias is eliminated.

The trained raters will read the entries and assign each entry a score from the scoring rubric.

Who will see your portfolio?

The residency program director will review your portfolio in the semi-annual evaluation and perhaps when writing letters of recommendation. They become part of your residency file.

You can use the portfolio as evidence of your performance when applying for positions or fellowships.

Portfolio Menu