E-PORTFOLIO, ASSESSMENT & ARCP
Information for Foundation Doctors on maintaining their e-portfolio, the annual ARCP process, and how to revalidate as a practising doctor.
The foundation learning
e-portfolio
All foundation doctors are required to use an electronic portfolio (e-portfolio) during their foundation training.
All Foundation Schools in England use Horus (provided by Health Education England).
The Horus e-portfolio is a record of a postgraduate doctor’s progress and development through the foundation years. Successful completion of the curriculum requires doctors in training to record evidence of progressive attainment across all 13 foundation professional capabilities’ (foundation programme training outcomes) in their e-portfolio. The e-portfolio is also the means by which trainers and supervisors record feedback and assessments on their doctorss.
The completed e-portfolio will contribute to the educational supervisor’s end of year report, which informs the annual review of competence progression (ARCP) panel. The foundation doctor may use evidence in their e-portfolio during interviews for core, specialty or GP training programmes to demonstrate their ability and highlight achievements
The annual review of competence progression (ARCP)
The Annual Review of Competence Progression is a review of evidence of achievement over the course of a year of training. The ARCP panel reviews and validates the educational supervisor’s recommended outcome against the foundation doctor’s portfolio of evidence. Although it is not in itself an assessment, it is a summative judgement of a foundation doctor’s performance and development throughout the year. The panel makes recommendations to the postgraduate dean. This means the process decides whether an individual doctor can progress to the next stage of training. Progression is dependent on evidence that the foundation doctor has met or exceeded the minimum expected level of performance in each of the 13 foundation professional capabilities (foundation programme training outcomes).
Foundation ARCPs take place locally in early June, so you are required to have all requirements for ARCP uploaded for ‘virtual’ lockdown, which is usually the last Friday in May.
Contact your FPA for any queries or for further information on the Foundation Programme and its e-portfolios; visit the UKFPO’s e-portfolio web page.
Revalidation for doctors in training
Every licensed doctor who practises medicine in the UK must revalidate to show they are up to date and fit to practise.
The way you revalidate will depend on your revalidation connection type, which you can find by using the GMC connection tool.
Revalidation for doctors in training
Doctors in training revalidate by meeting the requirements of their UK training programme (ARCP). The GMC make a revalidation decision based on a recommendation from the responsible officer of their training body, which for doctors in training at Medway:
Designated body: Health Education Kent, Surrey and Sussex (KSS)
Responsible Officer: Prof Alec Dewhurst
Further information for doctors in training is available on the GMC website.