Learning portfolios are online spaces which facilitate student and mentor collaboration for a variety of School of Medicine programs and initiatives.  Learning portfolios are used for project development, research collaboration, and assessment.  Learning portfolios have resulted in improved student-faculty collaboration, tracking of research activity, and clarity regarding program requirements and processes.

Longitudinal Research Project and Dean’s Summer Research Program

The Scholarly Research Project and Dean’s Summer Research Program support the development of skills for research, critical thinking, and application of research to medical practice.  Approximately 550 student-mentor teams use collaborative SRP & DSRP sites to develop, review, and monitor project progress.  The programs’ directors oversee each student’s project using reporting tools developed by the Lab.

(used with permission from Neal McQuaid)

 

This year, several new progress reports were added to the Scholarly Project Portfolios. These progress reports are designed to get the students thinking about their Scholarly Project in their first year, and to help identify students who may have issues with finding a project or mentor.

 

Feedback Portfolios

In 2017, the School of Medicine began using Learning Portfolios as a mechanism for facilitators to provide students with feedback on their performance during small group sessions.  These “Feedback Portfolios” were used to gather constructive comments from facilitators in 12 SOM courses.

Courses using Feedback Portfolios during the 2017-18 school year

1.       Resuscitation

2.       Neuroscience

3.       Medical Anatomy

4.       BFH – Cardio

5.       BFH – Renal

6.      Fuel Metabolism

 7.       Digestion and Nutrition

8.       Human Genetics

9.      Behavioral Medicine

10.   Tissues in Health and Disease

11.    Reproductive and Developmental Biology

12.   Medical Microbiology

 

 

Community Service Portfolios

New in 2018, Community Service portfolios were created to track the number of hours a student spends on community service during her four years at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.  These portfolios facilitate the submission/tracking/review of community service hours for the Office of Medical Education. Students reaching a certain number of hours can earn a Community Service Certificate.

 

Other Courses and Programs using Portfolios

Advisory

Evidence Based Medicine – Applied

Experiments and Logic in Cell Biology

 Integrated Case Studies

Investigation and Discovery

Methods and Logic in Biomedicine