PHM17 session summary: Demonstrating teaching excellence with an educator’s portfolio

NASHVILLE, TENN. – Development of a medical educator’s portfolio is a necessary, but daunting, task for clinician educators when they enter the promotion process, according to an expert panel at Pediatric Hospital Medicine 2017, sponsored by the Society of Hospital Medicine, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Academic Pediatric Association.

Session

Promote yourself: Demonstrating teaching excellence with an educator’s portfolio

Presenters

Michael Ryan, MD, MEHP; Ashlie Tseng, MD; Jocelyn Schiller, MD; Rebecca Tenney-Soeiro, MD, MEd; Michele Long, MD; Corki Lehmann, MD, MEd; Amy Fleming, MD; and H. Barrett Fromme, MD, MHPE

Session summary

Development of an educator’s portfolio is a necessary, but daunting, task for clinician educators when they enter the promotion process. Each institution has its own specific requirements for the educator’s portfolio, but there are several general themes that should be considered for inclusion:

1. Develop an educational philosophy. This is a personal statement that frames the rest of the portfolio and describes how this philosophy is used by the educator in his/her approach to education.

2. Teaching. Include teaching activities that are both formal (i.e. lectures) and sessions that encourage more active participation (i.e. small group discussions). This can be accomplished by generating a teaching activities report, which helps to categorize these activities. This will not only demonstrate the volume of teaching experience, but also help to demonstrate the diversity of an educator’s teaching activities. In this section, an educator also should include teaching awards received.

3. Learner evaluations. A qualitative summary of comments will provide a narrative of the educator’s teaching skills. This section also may include summaries of annual reviews of teaching.

4. Curriculum development. Demonstrate the educator’s active engagement in the development of a novel curriculum or the improvement of a pre-existing curriculum and the successful outcomes of those improvements.

5. Mentoring and advising. Generating a list of advisees and highlighting their accomplishments reflects on the ability of the educator to guide and promote success in his/her learners.

6. Educational leadership and administration. This is a description of the past and present leadership roles that the educator has held, including courses or clerkships directed. This should allow the educator the opportunity to provide a narrative description of his/her involvement beyond what is typically stated on the curriculum vitae.

7. Professional development. The educator should develop a list of activities, including formal degree programs, certificate programs, and educational workshops, in which he/she has participated as a learner and have enhanced his/her skills as an educator.

8. Products of educational scholarship. Generate a list of education-related peer-reviewed publications authored, other educational products (such as a syllabus or curriculum) developed, and educational workshops that the educator was invited to give.

For clinician educators interested in developing an educator’s portfolio, there are several resources available, including the Academic Pediatric Association’s website and several MedEdPORTAL publications.