Monitoring resident progress through mentored portfolios.

Abstract

Educational portfolios have been recommended for use in residency programs1,2 and are used in other fields of education.3 In its pure form, an educational portfolio is a tool for learners to review their learning, reflect on progress, and develop a learning plan.4 Reflective learning is a key tenet of portfolios in medicine,5 and it encourages residents to reflect on their learning as they progress toward Milestones in the 6 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competencies.6 Whether in electronic or paper form, a portfolio is a collection of documents that is used to conduct formative and summative evaluation6 and to promote self-directed learning.7 Another key factor in residents' personal and professional development is the active involvement of faculty mentors, yet it is often absent in today's environment.8,9 With increasing time constraints in training, many residents report a lack of mentoring relationships.8 The purpose of this article is to introduce the reader to a structured mentoring program.Incorporating faculty as portfolio mentors can provide residents with a structured mentoring experience10 and meet the requirements that faculty provide formative feedback and document evaluations at the end of rotations or assignments.11 Use of structured reflective learning, with guidance from a faculty mentor, has been found to be beneficial for residents' development.12 Furthermore, portfolios are most successful when combined with a structured mentoring program.11,12 Assigning mentors early in training increases the likelihood that a productive relationship develops.9To ensure the success of a mentored portfolio, mentors should receive detailed information about the goals and structure of the educational portfolio.13 In addition, mentors need to understand the components and content of the educational portfolio (box).Unfortunately, not all faculty members make good mentors, so careful selection of mentors is recommended.9 In addition, compared with the resident population, female and international physicians may be underrepresented in the faculty, so care should be taken to ensure that female and international medical graduate residents receive mentoring that is empathetic and sensitive to their needs. Faculty development and institutional support have been recommended to ensure an optimal mentoring relationship for all learners.8