Why A Portfolio?

Currently programs must demonstrate that their residents are competent in patient care, medical knowledge, communication and interpersonal skills, practice based learning and improvement, professionalism and systems based practice. Faculty observations that may not be available in many situations are no longer sufficient. The faculty ratings are important, but an evaluation system needs more than that one measure. As programs address how to measure competency of residents, portfolios emerge as an innovative approach that is not as familiar to most residents as are other assessment techniques. Portfolios have a certain appeal since they use a resident's actual work and require reflection on the part of the resident. They have the potential to assess more complex skills than other measures.

Why should UAMS Psychiatry residents value having portfolios as part of their evaluation at UAMS? They should like that their actual cases are used to assess competence rather than exercises external to practice. They should value that they can make their own choices of cases. They are the ones who know what they have been doing and now they can feature it. Residents should value that they are asked to take time and reflect on the care they are giving and justify the quality it represents. This is what psychiatrists should do all during their professional lives. The residents should value the evaluation they receive concerning their portfolio entries. At UAMS Board Certified psychiatrist external to the program and trained to evaluate portfolio entries evaluate blinded entries. This gives the resident unbiased evaluation of their work. Residents should value that much of what a portfolio requires are skills used in other parts of certification such as the oral examination. Finally, residents may like using portfolio entries when seeking employment or fellowships to demonstrate what you can do.