Developing and successfully implementing a competency-based portfolio assessment system in a postgraduate family...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Assessment in Medicine
• Competency-Based Education

Background:

• Portfolio assessment is increasingly used in postgraduate medical education for competency development.
• The design, implementation, and maintenance processes for these systems are still evolving.
• The Portfolio Assessment Support System (PASS) at Queen's University's family medicine program has been in use since 2009.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the needs assessment, development, implementation, and quality improvement processes of the PASS.
• To outline how PASS supports competency development, self-regulated learning, and professional identity formation.
• To provide a resource for others designing or adapting portfolio systems.

Main Methods:

• Systematic description of the PASS development lifecycle, including needs assessment and component selection.
• Identification of impact measures at individual, programmatic, and institutional levels.
• Detailed overview of portfolio elements: reflection, learning modules, assessments, and documentation.

Main Results:

• The PASS incorporates diverse elements such as learning plans, clinical logs, bioethics modules, research projects, objective structured clinical exams, and multisource feedback.
• The 'academic advisor' role is integral to the system.
• Impact measures are used to monitor PASS effectiveness in supporting resident development.

Conclusions:

• The PASS provides a structured approach to portfolio assessment in postgraduate medical education.
• The system effectively scaffolds resident self-regulated learning and professional identity formation.
• The described processes and elements can inform the design of similar portfolio systems.