Knowledge and Use of Academic Portfolios Among Primary Care Departments in U.S. Medical Schools

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Portfolios are used to summarize and communicate the academic accomplishments of faculty seeking career development and promotion. Method: We assessed knowledge and use of the portfolio in a cross sectional survey of 435 academic chairpersons of family medicine and division directors of general internal medicine and general pediatrics. Results: Of the 241 respondents (55% response rate), 69% reported knowledge of portfolios and 55% used portfolios. Satisfaction with the source of information on a faculty candidate was greater when portfolios were used (85.5% of respondents) than when they were not used (67.3% of respondents; p = .01). Increased knowledge and use of portfolios was associated with respondents working at institutions with academic fellowships/advanced education programs or who had fellowship training (ps = .01). Conclusion: Results suggest that leaders of primary care departments use portfolios to promote the career development of their faculty and that portfolio use is influenced by attitudes and training.

This study was funded in part by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Faculty Development in Primary Care Grant D55HP00045. We thank Dr. Deborah Simpson, associate dean for Educational Support and Evaluation, Medical College of Wisconsin, for her thoughtful review.