Learning with a portfolio in clinical workplaces. Practices, pitfalls and perspectives

Clerkships in clinical environments are a self-evident part of the curriculum in any medical
education programme. Yet, students’ learning during these clerkships remains little
understood and – as a consequence –the issue of properly supporting that learning still
raises many questions. During the past decade, portfolios have become widely used
in response to these issues. Not only are portfolios supposed to structure and deepen
students’ learning, they also provide a basis for systematic and effective support by
the supervisors. As such portfolios are entangled in the clerkship triangle: the complex
interplay of students, supervisors (in the clinical environment) and the training institute
(the medical school).

This book reports on a number of studies aimed at unravelling the clerkship triangle and
the role of the portfolio in it. It reveals several processes and conditions that determine
the actual meaning of the portfolio for both students’ learning and the supervision. It
further argues that the learning portfolio operates as an artefact through which the medical
school can be present in the clerkship environment and thus ‘steer from a distance’.
Finally the book also explores the conditions for successful use of electronic portfolios.

Ann Deketelaere studied educational sciences at the K.U.Leuven. Over the years she has
been professionally active as an educational researcher, curriculum designer, teachereducator
and in-service trainer. Since 2002, she has been working as an educational staff
member at the Centre for Medical Education of the Faculty of Medicine (K.U.Leuven).
Her main areas of interest and expertise are in coaching and mentoring of workplace
learning, reflective practice and learning portfolios.