the concept: a teaching portfolio (also called an educator's portfolio) is an modified curriculum vitae that documents an academic faculty member's educational scholarship for appointment or promotion.

A few facts...

Documentation of teaching is required for all faculty members at the University of Iowa but over half of U.S. Medical Schools currently have a portfolio system for documenting educational work either in place or under development (1). The teaching portfolio is increasingly becoming one of the most important standards upon which clinician-educators are evaluated. Beasley (2) reported that 73% of promotion committee chairs used teaching portfolios frequently, to evaluate clinician-educators for promotion to associate professor. Jones and Gold, in their 1997 report of faculty apointment and tenure policies, found that 71% of U.S. medical schools require "scholarship" for those in the clinical track. The activities listed as exemplifying "scholarship" include publication of case reports, book chapters and reviews, development of learning tools (software, CD), curriculum development, formal evaluation of teaching performance, presentations to professional groups and development of model clinical service programs (3).

In addition, teaching portfolios have also been used for faculty development, stimulating thought and reflection about future efforts and teaching goals. Seldin has reported that the process of developing a portfolio stimulates faculty to reconsider their teaching activities and to plan for the future (4). Simpson documented that 100% of the faculty members studied, reported that their teaching portfolios would have an impact on future teaching efforts(1).

So why bother with a teaching portfolio at the University of Iowa?

1. Documentation of teaching is required for promotion.
2. The teaching portfolio is not just an Iowa phenomenon. It is transferrable to other institutions and demonstrates your abilities as an academic physician and teacher.
3. It will help you reflect on the effort you've already put into teaching.
4. It will help you plan future efforts in teaching.

The Educator's Portfolio (5) from the Medical College of Wisconsin will be used as a model.

References

1. Simpson D, Morzinski J, Beecher A, Lindemann J. Meeting the challenge to document teaching accomplishments: The educator's portfolio. Teaching and learning in Medicine 1994;6:203-9.
2. Beasley BW, Wright SM, Cofrancesco Jr J, et al. Promotion criteria for clinician-educators in the United States and Canada: A survey of promotion committee chairpersons. JAMA 1997;278(9):723-728.
3. Jones RF, Gold JS. Faculty appointment and tenure policies in medical schools: A 1997 report. Academic Medicine 1998;73:212.
4. Seldin P. Successful use of teaching portfolios. Boston: Ander Publishing Company, 1993.
5. Simpson DE, Beecher AC, Lindemann JC, Morzinski JA. The Educator's Portfolio. 4th Edition. Medical College of Wisconsin. 1998.