Abstract

Physician, know thyself �: a role for self-assessment in ePortfolios?

Author(s): Mr Alex Haig,Ms Karen Beggs,Dr Claire Tochel,Mr Alex Haig

Self-assessment is being used in an ever-widening number of contexts across the health professions, despite the fact there is little evidence of its effectiveness. With the increasing use of ePortfolios, assessment data (self and external) is far more readily analysed than in previous paper format. This paper examines a year of Scottish (Foundation) trainee doctors’ assessment data to determine if self-assessment patterns are replicated when delivered and recorded by a mandatory ePortfolio. A total of 14,878 multi-source feedback (MSF) submissions were analysed. There were moderate parallels between the data and the patterns found in the wider literature. Discussion focuses on the implications of this and the wider potential for ePortfolios to serve as an analysis tool.