The Post Graduate Medicine Foundation Programme Learning Portfolio: Fulfilling Its Potential?

In August 2004 the Mersey Deanery established 242 Foundation Programme Year 2 (F2) posts in a Deanerywide Modernising Medical Careers pilot. Each trainee received a Foundation Programme Learning Portfolio to detail the range of experience, education, assessments completed and, with support from their Educational Supervisor, review their clinical practice on a regular basis identifying goals and competencies to be achieved during their training year. This study aims to investigate the trainees’ views of the use of the Portfolio in their first F2 post. Following ethical approval, a questionnaire containing both open and closed questions was distributed to 147 ( 6 1%) t ra i n e e s wh o h a d g i v e n wr i t t e n c o n s e n t t o participate in the study. Completed questionnaires were received from 65% (95/147). The main findings of this study indicate that 77% (73/95) of F2 trainees found the Portfolio to be ‘helpful’ or ‘very helpful’, enabling them to systematically complete the educational requirements of their post. Conversely, 23% (22/95) found the Portfolio to be of ‘little’ or ‘of no help’. Free-text responses from the t rainees expres sed the need for t rainer s to recei ve education and training on Portfolio use. In summary, to fully realise the educational potential of the Portfolio, instruction on its use is essential for trainees and trainers.