AFC programs are required to retain a portfolio for each of the AFC trainees. The requirements of these portfolios are listed in the program specific Education Portfolio document from the Royal College and can include assessments (e.g., multisource feedback forms), clinical material (e.g., consultation notes) and case tracking (e.g., logbooks). Trainee’s portfolios are to be reviewed by the competence committee when making promotion and progression decisions on a regular basis.
All submitted cases or clinical material must be de-identified to preserve patient privacy. This requires the removal of key identifiers, including but not limited to laboratory accession number, name, birth date, date of consultation, and location (e.g., hospital/clinic, city). In some cases, even without these identifiers, a patient could be identified by other information included in the case of clinical material (e.g., if the patient has a very rare condition, or lives in a remote area with a limited population size). In these instances, de-identification may not be sufficient to ensure patient privacy. In such exceptional cases it would be advisable to obtain patient consent for the submission.
Note: It is important to ensure that all of the tools and documentation listed in the educator’s portfolios and any other specialty specific standards documents are used in your program. Your program’s curriculum map must outline how you adhere to the national standards including how you use the tools listed in the portfolio and any other assessments your program uses (i.e., above and beyond those required in the standards). |
